A YACHT VOYAGE 



OF 



SIX THOUSAND MILES. 



FROM THE FOURTH LONDON EDITION. 



Street Life in Russia. 



JUST PUBLISHED. 



Second Edition. 



A JOURNEY DUE NORTH, 



GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA. 

In one handsome Volume. Price $1.00. 

The matter of this brilliant volume is of intrinsic interest. 
.... In power of holding the amused attention of the 
reader the volume is unexcelled by any other book on the 
subject of Russia. — Atlantic Monthly. 



A YACHT VOYAGE. 



LETTERS EROM HIGH LATITUDES ; 

BEING SOME ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE IN THE 

SCHOONER YACHT "FOAM," 85 O. M. TO 

ICELAND, JAN MAYEN, AND SPITZBERGEN, 

IN 1856. 
By LORD DUFFERIN. *~ • 




BOSTON: 
TICKNOR AND FIELDS. 

M DCCCLIX. 










riverside, Cambridge: 
printed by h. 0. houghton and company. 



I HAD INTENDED TO DEDICATE THESE PAGES 
TO 

FRANCIS EGERTON, EARL OF ELLESMERE. 

I NOW INSCRIBE THEM 

TO 

HIS MEMORY. 



1* 



" But since it pleased a vanish' d eye, 
I go to plant it on his tomb, 
That if it can, it there may bloom, 
Or dying — there at least mav die." 



" He, 

To whom a thousand memories call, 
Not being less, but more than all 
The gentleness he seemed to be, 

So wore his outward best, and join'd 
Each office of the social hour, 
To noble manners, as the flower 

And native growth of noble mind." 

In Memoriam. 



CONTENTS. 



LETTER I. 

PAGE 
PrOTESILAUS STUMBLES ON THE THRESHOLD ... 13 

LETTER II. 
The Icelander — a modern Sir Patrick Spens . 15 

LETTER III. 
Loch Goil — the Saga of Clan Campbell ... 18 

LETTER IV. 
Through the Sounds — Stornaway — the setting 
up of the Figure-head — Fitz's Foray — "Oh 
weel may the boatie row, that wins the 
Bairns's Bread " — Sir Patrick Spens joins — up 
Anchor 25 

LETTER V. 
The North Atlantic — Spanish Waves — our Cab- 
in in a Gale — Sea-Sickness from a scientific 
Point of View — Wilson — a Passenger com- 
mits Suicide — first Sight of Iceland — Floki 
of the Ravens — the Norse Mayflower — Faxa 
Fiord — we land in Thule 33 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

LETTER VI. i 

PAGE 

Reykjavik — Latin Conversation — I become the 
Proprietor of twenty-six Horses — Eider 
Ducks — Bessestad — Snorro Sturleson — the 
old Greenland Colony — Finland — a Geno- 
ese Skipper in the Fifteenth Century — an 
Icelandic Dinner — Skoal — an after-dinner 
Speech in Latin — winged Rabbits — Ducrow — 
Start of the Baggage-train • . 46 

LETTER VII. 

Kisses — Wilson on Horseback — a Lava Plateau - 
— Thing valla — Almannagia — Rabnagia— our 
Tent — the shivered Plain — Witch-drowning 
— A Parliamentary Debate, a.d. 1000 — Thang- 

BRAND THE MISSIONARY — A GERMAN GnAT-CATCH- 
ER — THE MYSTICAL MOUNTAINS — SlR OlAF — 

Heckla Skapta Jokul — the Fire Deluge of 

1783 — WE REACH THE GEYSER — StROKR — FlTZ'S 

bonne Fortune — more Kisses— an Eruption — 
Prince Napoleon — Return — Trade — Popula- 
tion — a Mutiny — The Reine Hortense — the 
seven Dutchmen — a Ball — low Dresses — 
Northward ho ! 84 

LETTER VIII. 

Start from Reykjavik — Snaefell — the Lady 
of Froda — a Berserk Tragedy — the Cham- 
pion of Breidavik — Onunder Fiord — the last 
Night — crossing the Arctic Circle — Fete on 
board The Reine Hortense — le Pere Arc- 

TIQUE — WE FALL IN WITH THE ICE — THE SAXON 

disappears — Mist — a Parting in a lonely Spot 



CONTENTS. IX 

* PAGE 

— Jan Ma yen — Mount Beerenberg — an un- 
pleasant Position — Shift of Wind and Extri- 
cation — " TO NORROWAY OVER THE FAEM " — A 

nasty Coast — Hammerfest 160 

LETTER IX. 
Extract from the "Moniteur" of the 31st 
July 218 

LETTER X. 
Bucolics — the Goat — Maid Marian — a Lapp 
Lady — Lapp Love-making - the Sea-Horseman 
— the Gulf Stream — Arctic Currents — a 
Dingy Expedition — a School of Peripatetic 
Fishes — Alten — the Chatelaine of Kaafiord 
— still Northward Ho ! 236 

LETTER XL 
We sail for Bear Island and Spitzbergen — 
Cherie Island — Barentz — Sir Hugh Wil- 
loughby — Parry's Attempt to reach the 
North Pole — again amongst the Ice — Iceblink 
— first Sight of Spitzbergen — Wilson — Decay 
of our Hopes— constant Struggle with the 
ice — we reach the 80° n. lat. — a freer sea — 
we land in Spitzbergen — English Bay — Lady 
Edith's Glacier— a midnight Photograph — no 
Reindeer to be seen — et Ego in Arctis — Win- 
ter in Spitzbergen — Ptarmigan — the Bear- 
saga — The Foam Monument — Southwards 
— Sight the Greenland Ice — a Gale — Wilson 
on the Malstrom — Breakers ahead — Roost 
— taking a Sight — Throndhjem 261 



X CONTENTS. 

LETTER XII. 

PAGE 

Throndhjem — Harald Haarfager — King Ha- 
con's last Battle — Olaf Tryggvesson — The 
Long Serpent — Saint Olave — Thormod the 
Scald — the Jarl of Lade — the Cathedral — 
Harald Hardrada — the Battle of Stanford 
Bridge — a Norse Ball — Odin and his Pala- 
dins 321 

LETTER XIII. 

Copenhagen — Bergen — the Black Death — Si- 
gurdr— Homewards - . . 363 

Appendix 377 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



Sigurdr, Son of Jonas, Icelander; Law Student. 

Charles E. Fitzgerald, Surgeon ; Photographer ; Bota- 
nist. 

Lord Dufferin, Navigator; Sagaman; Artist. 

William Wilson, Valet; Gardener; Cape Colonist 

Albert Grant, Steward; Watchmaker ; Bird-stuffer. 

John Bevis, First Cook; afterwards Ducrow. 

William Webster, Second Cook ; Carpenter ; late of Her 
Majesty's Foot Guards ; afterwards Maid Marian. 

Ebenezer Wyse, Master ; Californian Gold-digger. 

William Leverett, Mate. 

William Taylor, Butcher. 

Charles Parne, 

Thomas Scarlett, 

Thomas Pilcher, ]> Seamen. 

Henry Leverett, 

John Lock, J 

William Wynhall, Ship-boy. 

Voice of a French Captain. 

A German Gnat-catcher. 

An early Village Cock. 

A Goat. 

An Icelandic Fox. 

A White Bear. 

Ladies and Cavaliers of the Icelandic, Norse, Lappish, 
and French tongues. 

SCENE. — Sometimes on hoard The Foam, sometimes in Ice- 
land, Spitzbergen, and Norway. 
God save the Queen ! 



" It is a strange thing, that in sea voyages, where there is noth- 
ing to be seen, but sky and sea, men should make Diaries; but in 
land-travel, wherein so much is to be observed, for the most part, they 
omit it; as if chance were fitter to be registered than observation." — 
Bacon. 



LETTERS 

FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



LETTER I. 



PROTESILAUS STUMBLES ON THE THRESHOLD. 

Glasgow, Monday, June 2, 1856. 

Our start has not been prosperous. Yesterday 
evening, on passing Carlisle, a telegraph message 
was put into my hand, announcing the fact of 
The Foam having been obliged to put into Holy- 
head, in consequence of the sudden illness of my 
Master. As the success of our expedition entirely 
depends on our getting off before the season is 
further advanced, you can understand how disa- 
greeable it is to have received this check at its 
very outset. As yet, of course, I know nothing of 
the nature of the illness with which he has been 



14 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

seized. However, I have ordered the schooner 
to proceed at once to Oban, and I have sent back 
the doctor to Holyhead to overhaul the sick man. 
It is rather early in the day for him to enter upon 
the exercise of his functions. 



LETTER II. 

THE ICELANDER — A MODERN SIR PATRICK SPENS. 

Greenock, Tuesday, June 3, 1856. 

I found the Icelander awaiting my arrival 
here, — pacing up and down the coffee-room like 
a polar bear. 

At first, he was a little shy, and, not having 
yet had much opportunity of practising his Eng- 
lish, it was some time before I could set him 
perfectly at his ease. He has something so frank 
and honest in his face and bearing, that I am 
certain he will turn out a pleasant companion. 
There being no hatred so intense as that which 
you feel towards a disagreeable shipmate, this 
assurance has relieved me of a great anxiety, and 
I already feel I shall hereafter reckon Sigurdr, 
(pronounced Segurthur,) the son of Jonas, among 
the number of my best friends. 

As most educated English people firmly be- 
lieve the Icelanders to be a " Squawmuck," 
blubber-eating, seal-skin-clad race, I think it right 
to tell you that Sigurdr is apparelled in good 



16 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

broadcloth, and all the inconveniences of civili- 
zation, his costume culminating in the orthodox 
chimney-pot of the nineteenth century. He is 
about twenty-seven, very intelligent looking, and 
— all women would think — lovely to behold. A 
high forehead, straight, delicate features, dark 
blue eyes, auburn hair and beard, and the com- 
plexion of — Lady S d! His early life was 

passed in Iceland; but he is now residing at 
Copenhagen as a law student. Through the 
introduction of a mutual friend, he has been 
induced to come with me, and do us the honours 
of his native land. 

" whar will I get a skeely skipper, 
To sail this gude ship o' mine? " 

Such, alas ! has been the burden of my song for 
these last four-and-twenty hours, as I have sat in 
the Tontine Tower, drinking the bad port wine ; 
for, after spending a fortune in telegraphic mes- 
sages to Holyhead, it has been decided that 

B cannot come on, and I have been forced 

to rig up a Glasgow merchant skipper into a jury 
sailing-master. 

Any such arrangement is, at the best, unsatis- 
factory ; but to abandon the cruise is the only 
alternative. However, considering I had but a 
few hours to look about me, I have been more 
fortunate than might have been expected. I have 



SIR PATRICK. 17 

had the luck to stumble on a young fellow, very 
highly recommended by the Captain of the Port. 
He returned just a fortnight ago from a trip to 
Australia, and having since married a wife, is 
naturally anxious not to lose this opportunity of 
going to sea again for a few months. 

I start to-morrow for Oban, via Inverary, which 
I wish to show to my Icelander. At Oban I join 
the schooner, and proceed to Stornaway, in the 
Hebrides ; whither the undomestic Mr. Ebenezer 
Wyse (a descendant, probably, of some West- 
land Covenanter) is to follow me by the steamer. 



LETTEK III. 

LOCH GOIL — THE SAGA OF CLAN CAMPBELL. 

Oban, June 5, 1856. 

I have seldom enjoyed any thing so much as 
our journey yesterday. Getting clear at last of 
the smells, smoke, noise, and squalor of Greenock, 
to plunge into the very heart of the Highland 
hills, robed as they were in the sunshine of a 
beautiful summer day, was enough to make one 
beside one's self with delight ; and the Icelander 
enjoyed it as much as I did. Having crossed the 
Clyde, alive with innumerable vessels, its waves 
dancing and sparkling in the sunlight, we sud- 
denly shot into the still and solemn Loch Goil, 
whose waters, dark with mountain shadows, 
seemed almost to belong to a different element 
from that of the yellow, rushing, ship-laden river 
we had left. In fact, in the space of ten minutes 
we had got into another world, centuries remote 
from the steaming, weaving, delving Britain, 
south of Clyde. 

After a sail of about three hours, we reached 



INVERARY. 19 

the head of the loch, and then took coach 
along the worst mountain road in Europe, tow- 
ards the country of the world-invading Camp- 
bells. A steady pull of three hours more, up a 
wild bare glen, brought us to the top of the 
mica-slate ridge which pens up Loch Fyne, on 
its western side, and disclosed what I have always 
thought the loveliest scene in Scotland. 

Far below at our feet, and stretching away on 
either hand among the mountains, lay the blue 
waters of the lake. 

On its other side, encompassed by a level belt 
of pasture-land and corn-fields, the white little 
town of Inverary glittered like a gem on the sea- 
shore; while to the right, amid lawns and gar- 
dens, and gleaming banks of wood, that hung 
down into the water, rose the dark towers of the 
Castle ; the whole environed by an amphitheatre 
of tumbled porphyry hills, beyond whose fir- 
crowned crags rose the bare blue mountain tops 
of Lorn. 

It was a perfect picture of peace and seclusion, 
and I confess I had great pride in being able to 
show my companion so fair a specimen of one 
of our lordly island homes — the birthplace of a 
race of nobles whose names sparkle down the 
page of their country's history, as conspicuously 
as the golden letters in an illuminated missal. 



20 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

While descending towards the strand, I tried 
to amuse Sigurdr with a sketch of the fortunes of 
the great house of Argyll. 

I told him how in ancient days three warriors 
came from green Ierne, to dwell in the wild glens 
of Cowal and Lochow, — how one of them, the 
swart Breachdan, all for the love of blue-eyed 
Eila, swam the Gulf, once with a clew of thread, 
then with a hempen rope, last with an iron 
chain ; but this time, alas ! the returning tide 
sucks down the over-tasked hero into its swirling 
vortex ; — how Diarmid O'Duin, i. e. son of " the 
Brown," slew with his own hand the mighty 
boar, whose head still scowls over the escutcheon 
of the Campbells ; — how in later times, while the 
murdered Duncan's son, afterwards the great 
Malcolm Canmore, was yet an exile at the court 
of his Northumbrian uncle, ere Birnam Wood 
had marched to Dunsinane, the first Campbell, 
i. e. Campus-bellus, Beau-champ, a Norman 
knight and nephew of the Conqueror, having 
won the hand of the Lady Eva, sole heiress of 
the race of Diarmid, became master of the lands 
and lordships of Argyll ; — how six generations 
later — each of them notable in their day — the 
valiant Sir Colin created for his posterity a title 
prouder than any within a sovereign's power to 
bestow, which no forfeiture could attaint, no act 



A LORDLY HOUSE. 21 

of parliament recall ; for though he ceased to be 
Duke or Earl, the head of the Clan Campbell 
will still remain 'Mac Calan More, — and how at 
last the same Sir Colin fell at the String of 
Cowal, beneath the sword of that fierce lord, 
whose granddaughter was destined to bind the 
honours of his own heirless house round the cor- 
onet of his slain foeman's descendant ; — how Sir 
Neill at Bannockburn fought side by side with 
the Bruce, whose sister he had married; — how 
Colin, the first Earl, wooed and won the Lady 
Isabel, sprung from the race of Somerled, Lord 
of the Isles, thus adding the galleys of Lorn to 
the blazonry of Argyll ; — how the next Earl died 
at Flodden, and his successor fought not less dis- 
astrously at Pinkie ; — how Archibald, fifth Earl, 
whose. wife was at supper with the Queen, her 
half-sister, when Rizzio was murdered, fell on the 
field of Langside, smitten not by the hand of the 
enemy, but by the finger of God ; — how Colin, 
Earl and boy-General at fifteen, was dragged 
away by force, with tears in his eyes, from the 
unhappy skirmish at Glenlivet, where his brave 
Highlanders were being swept down by the artil- 
lery of Huntley and Errol, — destined to regild 
his spurs in future years on the soil of Spain. 

Then I told him of the Great Rebellion, and 
how, amid the tumult of the next fifty years, the 

2* 



22 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Grim Marquis — Gillespie Grumach, as his squint 
caused him to be called — Montrose's fatal foe, 
staked life and fortunes in the deadly game en- 
gaged in by the fierce spirits of that generation, 
and, losing, paid the forfeit with his head, as 
calmly as became a brave and noble gentleman, 
leaving an example, which his son — already 
twice rescued from the scaffold, once by a daugh- 
ter of the ever-gallant house of Lindsay, again a 
prisoner, and a rebel, because four years too soon 
to be a patriot — as nobly imitated ; — how, at last, 
the clouds of misfortune cleared away, and hon- 
ours clustered where only merit had been before ; 
the martyr's aureole, almost become hereditary, 
being replaced in the next generation by a ducal 
coronet, itself to be regilt in its turn with a less 
sinister lustre by him — 

11 The State's whole thunder born to wield, 
And shake alike the senate and the field; " 

who baffled Walpole in the cabinet, and con- 
quered with Marlborough at Ramilies, Oude- 
narde, and Malplaquet ; — and, last, — how at that 
present moment, even while we were speaking, 
the heir to all these noble reminiscences, the 
young chief of this princely line, had already 
won, at the age of twenty-nine, by the manly 
vigour of his intellect and his hereditary inde- 
pendence of character, the confidence of his fel- 



HEIRLOOMS. 23 

low countrymen, and a seat at the council board 
of his sovereign. 

Having thus duly indoctrinated Sigurdr with 
the Sagas of the family, as soon as we had 
crossed the lake I took him up to the Castle, and 
acted cicerone to its pictures and heirlooms, — 
the gleaming stands of muskets, whose fire 
wrought such fatal ruin at Culloden ; — the por- 
trait of the beautiful Irish girl, twice a Duchess, 
whom the cunning artist has painted with a sun- 
flower that turns from the sun to look at her ; — 
Gillespie Grumach himself, as grim and sinister- 
looking as in life ; — the trumpets to carry the 
voice from the hall-door to Dunnaquaich ; — the 
fair beech avenues, planted by the old Marquis, 
now looking with their smooth gray boles, and 
overhanging branches, like the cloisters of an 
abbey ; — the vale of Esechasan, to which, on the 
evening before his execution, the Earl wrote such 
touching verses ; — the quaint old kitchen -garden ; 
— the ruins of the ancient Castle, where worthy 
Major Dalgetty is said to have passed such un- 
comfortable moments ; — the Celtic cross from 
lone Iona ; — -all and every thing I showed off 
with as much pride and pleasure, I think, as if 
they had been my own possessions ; and the 
more so as the Icelander himself evidently sym- 
pathized with such Scald-like gossip. 



24 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Having thoroughly overrun the woods and 
lawns of Inverary, we had a game of chess, and 
went to bed pretty well tired. 

The next morning, before breakfast, I went off 
in a boat to Ardkinglass to see my little cousins ; 
and then returning about twelve, we got a post- 
chaise, and crossing the boastful Loch Awe in 
a ferry-boat, reached Oban at nightfall. Here I 
had the satisfaction of finding the schooner al- 
ready arrived, and of being joined by the Doctor, 
just returned from his fruitless expedition to 
Holyhead. 



LETTER IV. 

THROUGH THE SOUNDS — STORNAWAY — THE SETTING UP 
OF THE FIGURE-HEAD — FITZ'S FORAY — OH WEEL MAY 
THE BOATIE ROW, THAT WINS THE BAIRNS'S BREAD — 
SIR PATRICK SPENS JOINS — UP ANCHOR. 

Stornaway, Island of Lewis, Hebrides, 
June 9, 1856. 

We reached these Islands of the West the day 
before yesterday, after a fine run from Oban. 

I had intended taking StafFa and Iona on my 
way, but it came on so thick with heavy weather 
from the southwest, that to have landed on either 
island would have been out of the question. So 
we bore up under Mull at one in the morning, 
tore through the Sound at daylight, rounded 
Ardnamurchan under a double-reefed mainsail 
at two p.m., and shot into the Sound of Skye the 
same evening, leaving the hills of Moidart (one 
of whose " seven men" was an ancestor of your 
own), and the jaws of the hospitable Loch 
Hourn, reddening in the stormy sunset. 

At Kylakin we were obliged to bring up for 
the night ; but getting under weigh again at 



26 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

daylight, we took a fair wind with us along the 
east coast of Skye, passed Raasa and Rona, and 
so across the Minch to Stornaway. 

Stornaway is a little fishing-town, with a beau- 
tiful harbour, from out of which was sailing, as 
we entered, a fleet of herring-boats, their brown 
sails gleaming like gold against the dark angry 
water, as they fluttered out to sea, unmindful of 
the leaden clouds banked up along the west, and 
all the symptoms of an approaching gale. The 
next morning it was upon us ; but, brought up 
as we were under the lea of a high rock, the 
tempest tore harmlessly over our heads, and left 
us at liberty to make the final preparations for 
departure. 

Fitz, whose talents for discerning where the 
vegetables, fowls, and pretty ladies of a place 
were to be found — I had already had occasion to 
admire, went ashore to forage ; while I remained 
on board to superintend the fixing of our sacred 
figure-head — executed in bronze by Marochetti— 
and brought along with me by rail, still warm 
from the furnace. 

For the performance of this solemnity, I luckily 
possessed a functionary equal to the occasion, 
in the shape of the second cook. Originally a 
guardsman, he had beaten his sword into a chisel, 
and become carpenter ; subsequently, conceiving 



THE SETTING UP OF THE FIGURE-HEAD. 27 

a passion for the sea, he turned his attention to 
the mysteries of the kitchen, and now sails with 
me in the alternate exercise of his last two pro- 
fessions. This individual, thus happily combin- 
ing the chivalry inherent in the profession of 
arms, with the skill of the craftsman and the re- 
finement of the artist — to whose person, more- 
over, a paper cap, white vestments, and the 
sacrificial knife at his girdle, gave something of 
a sacerdotal character — I did not consider unfit 
to raise the ship's guardian image to its ap- 
pointed place ; and after two hours' reverential 
handiwork, I had the satisfaction of seeing the 
well-known lovely face, with its golden hair, and 
smile that might charm all malice from the ele- 
ments, beaming like a happy omen above our 
bows. 

Shortly afterwards, Fitz came alongside, after 
a most successful foray among the fish-wives. 
He was sitting in the stern-sheets, up to his knees 
in vegetables, with seven elderly hens beside him, 
and a dissipated looking cock under his arm, with 
regard to whose qualifications its late proprietor 
had volunteered the most satisfactory assurances. 
I am also bound to mention, that protruding from 
his coat-pocket were certain sheets of music, with 
the name of Alice, Louisa, written therein in a 
remarkably pretty hand, which led me to believe 



28 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

that the Doctor had not entirely confined his 
energies to the acquisition of hens and vegeta- 
bles. The rest of the day was spent in packing 
away our newly-purchased stores, and making 
the ship as tidy as circumstances would admit. 
I am afraid, however, many a smart yachtsman 
would have been scandalized at our decks, lum- 
bered up with hen-coops, sacks of coal, and other 
necessaries, which, like the Queen of Spain's 
legs, not only ought never to be seen, but must 
not be supposed even to exist, on board a tip-top 
craft. 

By the evening, the gale, which had been blow- 
ing all day, had increased to a perfect hurricane. 
At nine o'clock we let go a second anchor ; and I 
confess, as we sat comfortably round the fire in 
the bright cheerful little cabin, and listened to the 
wind whistling and shrieking through the cord- 
age, that none of us were sorry to find ourselves 
in port on such a night, instead of tossing on the 
wild Atlantic, — though we little knew that even 
then, the destroying angel was busy with the fleet 
of fishing-boats which had put to sea so gallantly 
on the evening of our arrival. By morning the 
neck of the gale was broken, and the sun shone 
brightly on the white rollers as they chased each 
other to the shore; but a Queen's ship was steam- 
ing into the bay, with sad news of ruin out to 



SIR PATRICK'S GOLD CHAIN. 29 

seaward, — towing behind her boats, water-logged^ 
or bottom upward, — while a silent crowd of 
women on the quay were waiting to learn on 
what homes among them the bolt had fallen. 

About twelve o'clock the Glasgow packet came 
in, and a few minutes afterwards I had the hon- 
our of receiving on my quarter-deck a gentleman 
who seemed a cross between the German student, 
and swell commercial gent. On his head he 
wore a queer kind of smoking-cap, with the peak 
cocked over his left ear ; then came a green shoot- 
ing jacket, and flashy silk tartan waistcoat, set 
off by a gold chain, hung about in innumerable 
festoons, — while light trousers and knotty Wel- 
lington boots completed his costume, and made 
the wearer look as little like a seaman as need 
be. It appeared, nevertheless, that the individual 
in question was Mr. Ebenezer Wyse, my new 
sailing-master ; so I accepted Captain C.'s strong 
recommendation as a set-off against the silk tar- 
tan ; explained to the new comer the position he 
w T as to occupy on board, and gave orders for sail- 
ing in an hour. The multitudinous chain, more- 
over, so lavishly displayed, turned out to be an 
ornament of which Mr. Wyse might well be 
proud ; and the following history of its acquisi- 
tion reconciled me more than any thing else to 
my Master's unnautical appearance. 



30 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Some time ago there was a great demand in 
Australia for small river steamers, which certain 
Scotch companies undertook to supply. The 
difficulty, however, was to get such fragile tea- 
kettles across the ocean ; five started one after 
another in murderous succession, and each came 
to grief before it got half-way to the equator ; 
the sixth alone remained with which to try a last 
experiment ; should she arrive, her price would 
more than compensate the pecuniary loss already 
sustained, though it could not bring to life the 
hands sacrificed in the mad speculation ; by this 
time, however, even the proverbial recklessness 
of the seamen of the port was daunted, and the 
hearts of two crews had already failed them at 
the last moment of starting, when my friend of 
the chain volunteered to take the command. At 
the outset of his voyage every thing went well — 
a fair wind (her machinery was stowed away, 
and she sailed under canvas) carried the little 
craft in an incredibly short time a thousand miles 
to the southward of the Cape, when one day, as 
she was running before the gale, the man at the 
wheel — startled at a sea, which he thought was 
going to poop her, let go the helm, — the vessel 
broached to — and tons of water tumbled in on 
the top of the deck. As soon as the confusion 
of the moment had subsided, it became evident 



UP ANCHOR. 31 

that the shock had broken some of the iron plates 
and that the ship was in a fair way of founder- 
ing. So frightened were the crew, that after con- 
sultation with each other, they determined to take 
to the boats, and all hands came aft, to know 
whether there was any thing the skipper would 
wish to carry off with him. Comprehending the 
madness of attempting to reach land in open 
boats at a distance of a thousand miles from any 
shore, Wyse pretended to go into the cabin to 
get his compass, chronometer, &c. but returning 
immediately with a revolver in each hand, swore 
he would shoot the first man who attempted to 
touch the boats. This timely exhibition of spirit 
saved their lives ; soon after the weather moder- 
ated ; by undergirding the ship with chains, St. 
Paul fashion, the leaks were partially stopped, the 
steamer reached her destination, and was sold for 
7,000/. a few days after her arrival. In token of 
their gratitude for the good service he had done 
them, the Company presented Mr. Wyse on his 
return with a gold watch, and the chain he wears 
so gloriously outside the silk tartan waistcoat. 

And now good-bye. I hear the click, click of 
the chain, as they heave the anchor; I am rather 
tired and exhausted with all the worry of the last 
two months, and shall be heartily glad to get to 
sea, where fresh air will set me up again, I hope, 



32 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

in a few days. My next letter will be from Ice- 
land ; and, please God, before I see English land 
again, I hope to have many a story to tell you of 
the islands that are washed by the chill waters of 
the Arctic Sea. 



LETTER V. 

THE NORTH ATLANTIC — SPANISH WAVES — OUR CABIN IN 
A GALE — SEA-SICKNESS FROM A SCIENTIFIC POINT OF 
VIEW — WILSON — A PASSENGER COMMITS SUICIDE — 
FIRST SIGHT OF ICELAND — FLOKI OF THE RAVENS — 
THE NORSE MAYFLOWER — FAXA FIORD — WE LAND IN 
THULE. 

Reykjavik, Iceland, June 21, 1856. 

We have landed in Thule ! When, at parting, 
you moaned so at the thoughts of not being able 
to hear of our safe arrival, I knew there would be 
an opportunity of writing to you almost imme- 
diately after reaching Iceland ; but I said nothing 
about it at the time, lest something should delay 
this letter, and you be left to imagine all kinds 
of doleful reasons for its non-appearance. We 
anchored in Reykjavik harbour this afternoon 
(Saturday). H. M. S. Coquette sails for Eng- 
land on Monday ; so that within a week you will 
get this. 

For the last ten days we have been leading 
the life of the " Flying Dutchman." Never do 
I remember to have had such a dusting; foul 
winds, gales, and calms — or rather breathing 



34 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

spaces, which the gale took occasionally to mus- 
ter up fresh energies for a blow — with a heavy 
head sea, that prevented our sailing even when 
we got a slant. On the afternoon of the day we 
quitted Stornaway, I got a notion how it was 
going to be ; the sun went angrily down behind 
a bank of solid gray cloud, and by the time we 
were up with the Butt of Lewis, the whole sky 
was in tatters, and the mercury nowhere, with a 
heavy swell from the northwest. 

As, two years before, I had spent a week in 
trying to beat through the Roost of Sumburgh 
under double-reefed trysails, I was at home in 
the weather ; and guessing we were in for it, sent 
down the topmasts, stowed the boats in board, 
handed the foresail, rove the ridge-ropes, and 
reefed all down. By midnight it blew a gale, 
which continued without intermission until the 
day we sighted Iceland ; sometimes increasing to 
a hurricane, but broken now and then by sudden 
lulls, which used to leave us for a couple of hours 
at a time tumbling about on the top of the great 
Atlantic rollers — or Spanish waves, as they are 
called — until I thought the ship would roll the 
masts out of her. Why they should be called 
Spanish waves, no one seems to know; but I 
had always heard the seas were heavier here than 
in any other part of the world, and certainly they 



35 

did not belie their character. The little ship 
behaved beautifully, and many a vessel twice her 
size would have been less comfortable. Indeed, 
few people can have any notion of the coziness 
of a yacht's cabin under such circumstances. 
After having remained for several hours on deck, 
in the presence of the tempest,— peering through 
the darkness at those black liquid walls of water, 
mounting above you in ceaseless agitation, or 
tumbling over in cataracts of gleaming foam, — 
the wind roaring through the rigging, — timbers 
creaking as if the ship would break its heart, — 
the spray and rain beating in your face, — every 
thing around in tumult, — suddenly to descend 
into the quiet of a snug, well-lighted, little cabin, 
with the firelight dancing on the white rosebud 
chintz, the well-furnished bookshelves, and all 
the innumerable knick-knacks that decorate its 
walls, — little Edith's portrait looking so serene, — 
every thing about you as bright and fresh as a 
lady's boudoir in May Fair, — the certainty of 
being a good three hundred miles from any 
troublesome shore, — all combine to inspire a 
feeling of comfort and security difficult to de- 
scribe. 

These pleasures, indeed, for the first days of 
our voyage, the Icelander had pretty much to 
himself. I was laid up with a severe bout of 



36 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

illness I had long felt coming on, and Fitz was 
sea-sick. I must say, however, I never saw any- 
one behave with more pluck and resolution ; and 
when we return, the first thing you do must be 
to thank him for his kindness to me on that 
occasion. Though himself almost prostrate, he 
looked after me as indefatigably as if he had 
already found his sea legs ; and, sitting down on 
the cabin-floor, with a basin on one side of him, 
and a pestle and mortar on the other, used to 
manufacture my pills, between the paroxysms 
of his malady, with a decorous pertinacity that 
could not be too much admired. 

Strangely enough, too, his state of unhappiness 
lasted a few days longer than the eight-and-forty 
hours which are generally sufficient to set people 
on their feet again. I tried to console him by 
representing what an occasion it was for observ- 
ing the phenomena of sea-sickness from a scien- 
tific point of view ; and I must say he set to work 
most conscientiously to discover some remedy. 
Brandy, prussic-acid, opium, champagne, ginger, 
mutton-chops, and tumblers of salt water, were 
successively exhibited ; but, I regret to say, after 
a few minutes, each in turn re-exhibited itself 
with monotonous punctuality. Indeed, at one 
time we thought he would never get over it ; and 
the following conversation, which I overheard 



WILSON. 37 

one morning between him and my servant, did 
not brighten his hopes of recovery. 

This person's name is Wilson, and of all men 
I ever met he is the most desponding. Whatever 
is to be done, he is sure to see a lion in the path. 
Life, in his eyes, is a perpetual filling of leaky 
buckets, and a rolling of stones up hill. He is 
amazed when the bucket holds water, or the 
stone perches on the summit. He professes but 
a limited belief in his star, — and success with 
him is almost a disappointment. His counte- 
nance corresponds with the prevailing character 
of his thoughts ; always hopelessly chapfallen, his 
voice is as of the tomb. He brushes my clothes 
lays the cloth, opens the champagne, with the air 
of one advancing to his execution. I have never 
seen him smile but once, when he came to report 
to me that a sea had nearly swept his colleague, 
the steward, overboard. The son of a gardener 
at Chiswick, he first took to horticulture ; then 
emigrated as a settler to the Cape, where he 
acquired his present complexion, which is of a 
grass-green ; and finally served as a steward on 
board an Australian steam-packet. 

Thinking to draw consolation from his pro- 
fessional experiences, I heard Fitz's voice, now 
very weak, say in a tone of coaxing cheerful- 
ness : — 



38 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" Well, Wilson, I suppose this kind of thing 
does not last long ? " 

The Voice, as of the tomb. — " I don't know, 
Sir." 

Fitz. — " But you must have often seen passen- 
gers sick." 

The Voice. — " Often, Sir ; very sick." 

Fitz. — " Well, and on an average, how soon 
did they recover ? " 

The Voice. — " Some of them didn't recover, 
Sir." 

Fitz.—" Well, but those that did ? " 

The Vcice. — " I know'd a clergyman and his 
wife as were ill all the voyage ; five months, Sir." 

Fitz. — (Quite silent.) 

The Voice ; now become sepulchral. — " They 
sometimes dies, Sir." 

Fitz.— "Ugh!" 

Before the end of the voyage, however, this 
Job's comforter himself fell ill, and the doctor 
amply revenged himself by prescribing for him. 

Shortly after this, a very melancholy occur- 
rence took place. I had observed, for some days 
past, as we proceeded north, and the nights be- 
came shorter, that the cock we shipped at Stor- 
naway had become quite bewildered on the 
subject of that meteorological phenomenon called 
the Dawn of Day. In fact, I doubt whether he 



A SUICIDE AT SEA. 39 

ever slept for more than five minutes at a stretch, 
without waking up in a state of nervous agita- 
tion, lest it should be cock-crow. At last, when 
night ceased altogether, his constitution could no 
longer stand the shock. He crowed once or twice 
sarcastically, then went melancholy mad ; finally, 
taking a calenture, he cackled lowly, (probably 
of green fields,) and, leaping overboard, drowned 
himself. The mysterious manner in which every 
day a fresh member of his harem used to dis- 
appear, may also have preyed upon his spirits. 

At last, on the morning of the eighth day, we 
began to look out for land. The weather had 
greatly improved during the night ; and, for the 
first time since leaving the Hebrides, the sun had 
got the better of the clouds, and driven them in 
confusion before his face. The sea, losing its 
dead leaden colour, had become quite crisp and 
burnished, darkling into a deep sapphire blue 
against the horizon ; beyond which, at about 
nine o'clock, there suddenly shot up towards the 
zenith, a pale, gold aureole, such as precedes the 
appearance of the good fairy at a pantomime 
farce ; then, gradually lifting its huge back above 
the water, rose a silver pyramid of snow, which I 
knew must be the cone of an ice mountain, miles 
away in the interior of the island. From the 
moment we got hold of the land, our cruise, as 



40 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

you may suppose, doubled in interest Unfor- 
tunately, however, the fair morning did not keep 
its promise ; about one o'clock, the glittering 
mountain vanished in mist; the sky again be- 
came like an inverted pewter cup, and we had to 
return for two more days to our old practice of 
threshing to windward. So provoked was I at 
this relapse of the weather, that, perceiving a 
whale blowing convenient^ I could not help sug- 
gesting to Sigurdr, son of Jonas, that it was an 
occasion for observing the traditions of his fam- 
ily ; but he excused himself on the plea of their 
having become obsolete. 

The mountain we had seen in the morning 
was the southeast extremity of the island, the 
very landfall made by one of its first discoverers.* 

* There is in Strabo, an account of a voyage made by a 
citizen of the Greek colony of Marseilles, in the time of 
Alexander the Great, through the Pillars of Hercules, along 
the coasts of France and Spain, up the English Channel, and 
so across the North Sea, past an island he calls Thule; his 
further progress, he asserted, was hindered by a barrier of a 
peculiar nature, — neither earth, air, nor sky, but a compound 
of all three, forming a thick viscid substance which it was im- 
possible to penetrate. Now, whether this same Thule was one 
of the Shetland Islands, and the impassable substance merely 
a fog, — or Iceland, and the barricade beyond, a wall of ice, it 
is impossible to say. Probably Pythias did not get beyond the 
Shetlands. 



FLOKI OF THE RAVENS. 41 

This gentleman, not having a compass, (he lived 
about a. d. 864,) nor knowing exactly where the 
land lay, took on board with him, at starting, 
three consecrated ravens — as an M. P. would take 
three well-trained pointers to his moor. Having 
sailed a certain distance, he let loose one, which 
flew back, — by this he judged he had not got 
half-way. Proceeding onwards, he loosed the 
second, which, after circling in the air for some 
minutes in apparent uncertainty, also made off 
home, as though it still remained a nice point 
which were the shorter course toward terra firma. 
But the third, on obtaining his liberty a few days 
later, flew forward, and by following the direction 
in which he had disappeared, Rabna Floki, or 
Floki of the Ravens, as he came to be called, 
triumphantly made the land. 

The real colonists did not arrive till some 
years later, for I do not much believe a story 
they tell of Christian relics, supposed to have 
been left by Irish fishermen, found on the West- 
mann islands. A Scandinavian king, named 
Harold Haarfager, (a contemporary of our own 
King Alfred's,) having murdered, burnt, and 
otherwise exterminated all his brother kings who, 
at that time, grew as thick as blackberries in 
Norway, first consolidated their dominions into 
one realm, as Edgar did the Heptarchy, and then 



42 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

proceeded to invade the Udal rights of the land- 
holders. Some of them, animated with that love 
of liberty innate in the race of the noble North- 
men, rather than submit to his oppressions, de- 
termined to look for a new home amid the deso- 
late regions of the icy sea. Freighting a dragon- 
shaped galley — the Mayflower of the period — 
with their wives and children, and all the house- 
hold monuments that were dear to them, they 
saw the blue peaks of their dear Norway hills sink 
down into the sea behind, and manfully set their 
faces towards the west, where — some vague re- 
port had whispered — a new land might be found. 
Arrived in sight of Iceland, the leader of the ex- 
pedition threw the sacred pillars belonging to his 
former dwelling into the water, in order that the 
gods might determine the site of his new home ; 
carried by the tide, no one could say in what 
direction, they were at last discovered, at the end 
of three years, in a sheltered bay on the west 
side of the island, and Ingolf * came and abode 
there, and the place became, in the course of 
years, Reykjavik, the capital of the country. 

Sigurdr having scouted the idea of acting Iphi- 
genia, there was nothing for it but steadily to 



* It was in consequence of a domestic feud that Ingolf him- 
self was forced to emigrate. 



THE MEAL-SACK. 43 

beat over the remaining hundred and fifty miles, 
which still separated us from Cape Reikianess. 
After going for two days hard at it, and sighting 
the Westmann islands, we ran plump into a fog, 
and lay to. In a few hours, however, it cleared 
up into a lovely sunny day, with a warm sum- 
mer breeze just rippling up the water. Before 
us lay the long wished-for Cape, with the Meal- 
sack, — a queer stump of basalt, that flops up 
out of the sea, fifteen miles southwest of Cape 
Reikianess, its flat top white with guano, like the 
mouth of a bag of flour, — five miles on our port 
bow; and seldom have I remembered a pleas- 
anter four-and-twenty hours than those spent 
stealing up along the gnarled and crumpled lava 
flat that forms the western coast of Guldbrand 
Syssel. Such fishing, shooting, looking through 
telescopes, and talking of what was to be done 
on our arrival! Like Antaeus, Sigurdr seemed 
twice the man he was before, at sight of his 
native land ; and the Doctor grew nearly lunatic 
when, after stalking a solent goose asleep on the 
water, the bird flew away at the moment the 
schooner hove within shot. 

The panorama of the bay of Faxa Fiord is 
magnificent, — with a width of fifty miles from 
horn to horn, the one running down into a rocky 
ridge of pumice, the other towering to the height 



44 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

of five thousand feet in a pyramid of eternal 
snow, while round the intervening semicircle 
crowd the peaks of a hundred noble mountains. 
As you approach the shore, you are very much 
reminded of the west coast of Scotland, except 
that every thing is more intense, the atmosphere 
clearer, the light more vivid, the air more bracing, 
the hills steeper, loftier, more tormented, as the 
French say, and more gaunt; while, between 
their base and the sea, stretches a dirty greenish 
slope, patched with houses which themselves, 
both roof and walls, are of a mouldy-green, as 
if some long-since inhabited country had been 
fished up out of the bottom of the sea. 

The effects of light and shadow are the purest 
I ever saw, the contrasts of colour most aston- 
ishing, — one square front of a mountain jutting 
out in a blaze of gold against the flank of 
another, dyed of the darkest purple, while up 
against the azure sky beyond, rise peaks of glit- 
tering snow and ice. The snow, however, be- 
yond serving as an ornamental fringe to the 
distance, plays but a very poor part at this sea- 
son of the year in Iceland. While I write, the 
thermometer is above 70°. Last night we re- 
mained playing at chess on deck till bedtime, 
without thinking of calling for coats, and my 
people live in their shirt sleeves, and — astonish- 
ment at the climate. 



APPEARANCE OF THE COAST. 45 

And now, good-bye. I cannot tell you how I 
am enjoying myself, body and soul. Already I 
feel much stronger, and before I return I trust to 
have laid in a stock of health sufficient to last 
the family for several generations. 

Remember me to , and tell her she looks 

too lovely; her face has become of a beautiful 
bright green — a complexion which her golden 
crown sets off to the greatest advantage. I wish 
she could have seen, as we sped across, how 
passionately the waves of the Atlantic flung their 
liquid arms about her neck, and how proudly 
she broke through their embraces, leaving them 
far behind, moaning and lamenting. 



LETTER VI. 

REYKJAVIK — LATIN CONVERSATION — I BECOME THE PRO- 
PRIETOR OF TWENTY-SIX HORSES — EIDER DUCKS — BES- 
SESTAD — SNORRO STURLESON — THE OLD GREENLAND 
COLONY — FINLAND — A GENOESE SKIPPER IN THE FIF- 
TEENTH CENTURY — AN ICELANDIC DINNER — SKOAL — 
AN AFTER-DINNER SPEECH IN LATIN — WINGED RAB- 
BITS — DUCROW — START OF THE BAGGAGE-TRAIN. 

Reykjavik, June 28, 1856. 

Notwithstanding that its site, as I mentioned 
in my last letter, was determined by auspices not 
less divine than those of Rome or Athens, Reyk- 
javik is not so fine a city as either, though its 
public buildings may be thought to be in better 
repair. In fact, the town consists of a collection 
of wooden sheds, one story high — rising here and 
there into a gable end of greater pretensions — 
built along the lava beach, and flanked at either 
end by a suburb of turf huts. 

On every side of it extends a desolate plain of 
lava, that once must have boiled up red-hot from 
some distant gateway of hell, and fallen hissing 
into the sea. No tree or bush relieves the dreari- 



REYKJAVIK. 47 

ness of the landscape, and the mountains are 
too distant to serve as a background to the build- 
ings ; but before the door of each merchant's 
house facing the sea, there flies a gay little pen- 
non ; and as you walk along the silent streets, 
whose dust no carriage-wheel has ever dese- 
crated, the rows of flower-pots that peep out of 
the windows, between curtains of white muslin, 
at once convince you that notwithstanding their 
unpretending appearance, within each dwelling 
reign the elegance and comfort of a woman- 
tended home. 

Thanks to Sigurdr's popularity among his 
countrymen, by the second day after our arrival 
we found ourselves no longer in a strange land. 
With a frank energetic cordiality that quite took 
one by surprise, the gentlemen of the place at 
once welcomed us to their firesides, and made us 
feel that we could give them no greater pleasure 
than by claiming their hospitality. As, however, 
it is necessary, if we are to reach Jan Mayen 
and Spitzbergen this summer, that our stay in 
Iceland should not be prolonged above a certain 
date, I determined at once to make preparations 
for our expedition to the Geysers and the interior . 
of the country. Our plan at present, after visit- 
ing the hot springs, is to return to Reykjavik, 
and stretch right across the middle of the island 



48 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES, 

to the north coast, — scarcely ever visited by 
strangers. Thence we shall sail straight away 
to Jan Mayen. 

In pursuance of this arrangement, the first 
thing to do was to buy some horses. Away, 
accordingly, we went in the gig to the little pier 
leading up to the merchant's house who had 
kindly promised Sigurdr to provide them. Every 
thing in the country that is not made of wood is 
made of lava. The pier was constructed out of 
huge boulders of lava, the shingle is lava, the 
sea-sand is pounded lava, the mud on the roads 
is lava paste, the foundations of the houses are 
lava blocks, and in dry weather you are blinded 
with lava dust. Immediately upon landing I 
was presented to a fine, burly gentleman, who, I 
was informed, could let me have a steppe-ful of 
horses if I desired, and a few minutes afterwards 
I picked myself up in the middle of a Latin 
oration on the subject of the weather. Having 
suddenly lost my nominative case, I concluded 
abruptly with the figure syncope, and a bow, to 
which my interlocutor politely replied " Ita." 
Many of the inhabitants speak English, and one 
or two French, but in default of either of these, 
your only chance is Latin. At first I found great 
difficulty in brushing up any thing sufficiently con- 
versational, more especially as it was necessary 



I BUY TWENTY-SIX HORSES. 49 

to broaden out the vowels in the high Roman 
fashion ; but a little practice soon made me more 
fluent, and I got at last to brandish my " Pergra- 
tum est," &c. in the face of a new acquaintance, 
without any misgivings. On this occasion I 
thought it more prudent to let Sigurdr make the 
necessary arrangements for our journey, and in 
a few minutes I had the satisfaction of learning 
that I had become the proprietor of twenty-six 
horses, as many bridles and pack-saddles, and 
three guides. 

There being no roads in Iceland, all the traffic 
of the country is conducted by means of horses, 
along the bridle-tracks which centuries of travel 
have worn in the lava plains. As but little hay 
is to be had, the winter is a season of fasting 
for all cattle, and it is not until spring is well 
advanced, and the horses have had time to grow 
a little fat on the young grass, that you can go a 
journey. I was a good deal taken aback when 
the number of my stud was announced to me ; 
but it appears that what with the photographic 
apparatus, which I am anxious to take, and our 
tent, it would be impossible to do with fewer 
animals. The price of each pony is very moder- 
ate, and I am told I shall have no difficulty in 
disposing of all of them, at the conclusion of our 
expedition. 



50 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

These preliminaries happily concluded, Mr. 

J invited us into his house, where his wife 

and daughter — a sunshiny young lady of eighteen 
— were waiting to receive us. As Latin here 
was quite useless, we had to entrust Sigurdr with 
all the pretty things we desired to convey to our 
entertainers ; but it is my firm opinion that that 
gentleman took a dirty advantage of us, and in- 
tercepting the choicest flowers of our eloquence, 
appropriated them to the advancement of his 
own interests. However, such expressions of re- 
spectful admiration as he suffered to reach their 
destination were received very graciously, and 
rewarded with a shower of smiles. 

The next few days were spent in making short 
expeditions in the neighbourhood, in preparing 
our baggage train, and in paying visits. It would 
be too long for me to enumerate all the marks of 
kindness and hospitality I received during this 
short period. Suffice it to say, that I had the 
satisfaction of making many very interesting ac- 
quaintances, of beholding a great number of very 
pretty faces, and of partaking of an innumerable 
quantity of luncheons. In fact, to break bread, 
or, more correctly speaking, to crack a bottle 
with the master of the house, is as essential an 
element of a morning call as the making a bow 
or shaking hands, and to refuse to take off your 



DRINK-RUNES. 51 

glass would be as great an incivility as to decline 
taking off your hat. From earliest times, as the 
grand old ballad of the King of Thule tells us, a 
beaker was considered the fittest token a lady 
could present to her true-love — 

3Bem sterfoetttt seme 3Sui)le 
32inm goltmen Becfjer gaf). 

And in one of the most ancient Eddaic songs it 
is written, " Drink, Runes, must thou know, if 
thou wilt maintain thy power over the maiden 
thou lovest. Thou shalt score them on the drink- 
ing-horn, on the back of thy hand, and the word 
naud" (need — necessity) "on thy nail." More- 
over, when it is remembered, that the ladies of 
the house themselves minister on these occasions, 
it will be easily understood that all flinching is 
out of the question. What is a man to do, when 
a wicked little golden-haired maiden insists on 
pouring him out a bumper, and dumb show is his 
only means of remonstrance ? Why, of course, 
if death were in the cup, he must make her a leg, 
and drain it to the bottom, as I did. In conclu- 
sion, I am bound to add that, notwithstanding 
the bacchanalian character prevailing in these 
visits, I derived from them much interesting and 
useful information ; and I have invariably found 
the gentlemen, to whom I have been presented, 



52 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

persons of education and refinement, combined 
with a happy, healthy, jovial temperament, that 
invests their conversation with a peculiar charm. 

At this moment people are in a great state of 
excitement at the expected arrival of H. I. H. 
Prince Napoleon, and two days ago a large full- 
rigged ship came in laden with coal for his use. 
The day after we left Stornaway, we had seen 
her scudding away before the gale on a due west 
course, and guessed she was bound for Iceland, 
and running down the longitude ; but as we 
arrived here four days before her, our course 
seems to have been a better one. The only other 
ship here is the French frigate " Artemise," Com- 
modore Dumas, by whom I have been treated 
with the greatest kindness and civility. 

On Saturday we went to Vedey, a beautiful 
little green island where the eider ducks breed, 
and build nests with the soft under-down plucked 
from their own bosoms. After the little ones are 
hatched, and their birthplaces deserted, the nests 
are gathered, cleaned, and stuffed into pillow- 
cases, for pretty ladies in Europe to lay their soft, 
warm cheeks upon, and sleep the sleep of the 
innocent ; while long-legged, broad-shouldered, 
Englishmen protrude from between them at Ger- 
man inns, like the ham from a sandwich, and 
cannot sleep, however innocent. 



AN ICELANDIC LADY'S DRESS. 53 

The next day, being Sunday, I read prayers 
on board, and then went for a short time to the 
cathedral church, — the only stone building in 
Reykjavik. It is a moderate-sized, unpretending 
place, capable of holding three or four hundred 
persons, erected in very ancient times, but lately 
restored. The Icelanders are of the Lutheran 
religion ; and a Lutheran clergyman, in a black 
gown, &c. with a ruff round his neck, such as 
our bishops are painted in about the time of 
James the First, was preaching a sermon. It 
was the first time I had heard Icelandic spoken 
continuously, and it struck me as a singularly 
sweet caressing language, although I disliked the 
particular cadence, amounting almost to a chant, 
with which each sentence ended. 

As in every church where prayers have been 
offered up since the world began, the majority of 
the congregation were women, some few dressed 
in bonnets, and the rest in the national black silk 
skull-cap, set jauntily on one side of the head, 
with a long black tassel hanging down to the 
shoulder, or else in a quaint mitre of white linen, 
of which a drawing alone could give you an 
idea; the remainder of an Icelandic lady's cos- 
tume, when not superseded by Paris fashions, 
consists of a black boddice fastened in front with 
silver clasps, over which is drawn a cloth jacket, 



54 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

ornamented with a multitude of silver buttons ; 
round the neck goes a stiff ruff of velvet, figured 
with silver lace, and a silver belt, often beauti- 
fully chased, binds the long dark wadmal petti- 
coat round the waist. Sometimes the ornaments 
are of gold instead of silver, and very costly. 

Before dismissing his people, the preacher de- 
scended from the pulpit, and putting on a splen- 
did cope of crimson velvet (in which some bishop 
had in ages past been murdered), turned his back 
to the congregation, and chanted some Latin 
sentences, in good round Roman style. Though 
still retaining in their ceremonies a few vestiges 
of the old religion, though altars, candles, pic- 
tures, and crucifixes yet remain in many of their 
churches, the Icelanders are staunch Protestants, 
and, by all accounts, the most devout, innocent, 
pure-hearted people in the world. Crime, theft, 
debauchery, cruelty, are unknown amongst them ; 
they have neither prison, gallows, soldiers, nor 
police ; and in the manner of the lives they lead 
among their secluded valleys, there is something 
of a patriarchal simplicity, that reminds one of 
the Old World princes, of whom it has been said, 
that they were " upright and perfect, eschewing 
evil, and in their hearts no guile." 

The law with regard to marriage, however, is 
sufficiently peculiar. When, from some unhappy 



A FARM-STEADING. 55 

incompatibility of temper, a married couple live 
so miserably together as to render life insupport- 
able, it is competent for them to apply to the 
Danish Governor of the island for a divorce. If, 
after the lapse of three years from the date of the 
application, both are still of the same mind, and 
equally eager to be free, the divorce is granted, 
and each is at liberty to marry again. 

The next day it had been arranged that we 
were to take an experimental trip on our new 
ponies, under the guidance of the learned and 
jovial Rector of the College. Unfortunately the 
weather was dull and rainy, but we were deter- 
mined to enjoy ourselves in spite of every thing, 
and a pleasanter ride I have seldom had. The 
steed Segurdr had purchased for me was a long- 
tailed, hog-maned, shaggy, cow-houghed creature, 
thirteen hands high, of a bright yellow colour, 
with admirable action, and sure-footed enough to 
walk downstairs backwards. The Doctor was 
not less well mounted ; in fact, the Icelandic 
pony is quite a peculiar race, much stronger, 
faster, and better bred than the Highland shelty, 
and descended probably from pure-blooded sires 
that scoured the steppes of Asia, long before 
Odin and his paladins had peopled the valleys of 
Scandinavia. 

The first few miles of our ride lay across an 



56 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

undulating plain of dolorite, to a farm situated 
at the head of an inlet of the sea. At a distance, 
the farm-steading looked like a little oasis of 
green, amid the gray stony slopes that sur- 
rounded it, and on a nearer approach, — not un- 
like the vestiges of a Celtic earthwork, with the 
tumulus of a hero or two in the centre, — but the 
mounds turned out to be nothing more than the 
grass roofs of the house and offices, and the 
banks and dykes, but circumvallations round the 
plot of most carefully cleaned meadow, called the 
"tun," which always surrounds every Icelandic 
farm. This word "tun" is evidently identical 
w T ith our own Irish " town-land" the Cornish 
" town" and the Scotch " toon" terms which, in 
their local signification, do not mean a congre- 
gation of streets and buildings, but the yard, and 
spaces of grass immediately adjoining a single 
house ; just as in German we have " tzaun" and 
in the Dutch " tuyn" a garden. 

Turning to the right, round the head of a little 
bay, we passed within forty yards of an enor- 
mous eagle, seated on a crag ; but we had no 
rifle, and all he did was to rise heavily into the 
air, flap his wings like a barn-door fowl, and 
plump lazily down twenty yards farther off. 
Soon after, the district we traversed became 
more igneous, wrinkled, cracked, and ropy than 



BESSESTAD. 57 

any thing we had yet seen, and another two 
hours' scamper over such a track — as till then I 
would not have believed horses could have trav- 
ersed, even at a foot's pace — brought us to the 
solitary farm-house of Bessestad. Fresh from 
the neat homesteads of England that we had left 
sparkling in the bright spring-weather, and shel- 
tered by immemorial elms, — the scene before us 
looked inexpressibly desolate. In front rose a 
cluster of weather-beaten wooden buildings, and 
huts like icehouses, surrounded by a scanty plot 
of grass, reclaimed from the craggy plain of 
broken lava that stretched — the home of ravens 
and foxes — on either side to the horizon. Be- 
yond, lay a low black breadth of moorland, inter- 
sected by patches of what was neither land nor 
water, and last, — the sullen sea, while above our 
heads a wind, saturated with the damps of the 
Atlantic, went moaning over the landscape. Yet 
this was Bessestad, the ancient home of Snorro 
Sturleson ! 

On dismounting from our horses and entering 
the house things began to look more cheery; 
a dear old lady, to whom we were successively 
presented by the Rector, received us with the air 
of a princess, ushered us into her best room, 
made us sit down on the sofa — the place of 
honour — and assisted by her niece, a pale lily-like 



58 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

maiden, named after Jarl Hakon's Thora, pro- 
ceeded to serve us with hot coffee, rusks, and 
sweetmeats. At first it used to give me a very- 
disagreeable feeling to be waited upon by the 
woman-kind of the household, and I was always 
starting up, and attempting to take the dishes 
out of their hands, to their infinite surprise ; but 
now I have succeeded in learning to accept their 
ministrations with the same unembarrassed dig- 
nity as my neighbours. In the end, indeed, I 
have rather got to like it, especially when they 
are as pretty as Miss Thora. To add, moreover, 
to our content, it appeared that that young lady 
spoke a little French ; so that we had no longer 
any need to pay our court by proxy, which many 
persons besides ourselves have found to be un- 
satisfactory. Our hostess lives quite alone. Her 
son, whom I have the pleasure of knowing, is far 
away, pursuing a career of honour and useful- 
ness at Copenhagen, and it seems quite enough 
for his mother to know that he is holding his 
head high among the princes of literature, and 
the statesmen of Europe, provided only news of 
his success and advancing reputation shall occa- 
sionally reach her across the ocean. 

Of the rooms and the interior arrangement of 
the house, I do not know that I have any thing 
particular to tell you ; they seemed to me like 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 59 

those of a good old-fashioned farm-house, the 
walls wainscoted with deal, and the doors and 
staircase of the same material. A few prints, a 
photograph, some book-shelves, one or two little 
pictures, decorated the parlour, and a neat iron 
stove, and massive chests of drawers, served to 
furnish it very completely. But you must not, I 
fear, take the drawing-room of Bessestad as an 
average specimen of the comfort of an Icelandic 
interieur. The greater proportion of the inhabi- 
tants of the island live much more rudely. . The 
walls of only the more substantial farmsteads 
are wainscoted with deal, or even partially 
screened with drift-wood. In most houses the 
bare blocks of lava, pointed with moss, are left in 
all their natural ruggedness. Instead of wood, 
the rafters are made of the ribs of whales. The 
same room but too often serves as the dining, 
sitting, and sleeping place for the whole family ; 
a hole in the roof is the only chimney, and a 
horse's skull the most luxurious fauteuil into 
which it is possible for them to induct a stranger. 
The parquet is that originally laid down by Na- 
ture, — the beds are merely boxes filled with 
feathers or sea-weed, — and by all accounts the 
nightly packing is pretty close, and very indis- 
criminate. 

After drinking several cups of coffee, and con- 



60 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

suming at least a barrel of rusks, we rose to go, 
in spite of Miss Thora's intimation that a fresh 
jorum of coffee was being brewed. The horses 
were resaddled ; and with an eloquent exchange of 
bows, curtseys, and kindly smiles, we took leave 
of our courteous entertainers, and sallied forth 
into the wind and rain. It was a regular race 
home, single file, the Rector leading ; but as we 
sped along in silence, amid the unchangeable fea- 
tures of this strange land, I could not help think- 
ing of him whose shrewd observing eyes must 
have rested, six hundred and fifty years ago, on 
the selfsame crags, and tarns, and distant moun- 
tain-tops ; perhaps on the very day he rode out in 
the pride of his wealth, talent, and political influ- 
ence, to meet his murderers at Reikholt. And 
mingling with his memory would rise the pale 
face of Thora, — not the little lady of the coffee 
and biscuits we had just left, but that other 
Thora, so tender and true, who turned back King 
Olaf's hell-hounds from the hiding-palce of the 
great Jarl of Lade. 

In order that you may understand why the for- 
lorn barrack we had just left, and its solitary 
inmates, should have set me thinking of the men 
and women " of a thousand summers back," it is 
necessary I should tell you a little about this same 
Snorro Sturleson, whose memory so haunted me. 



ANCIENT LITERATURE. 61 

Colonized as Iceland had been, — not as is gen- 
erally the case when a new land is brought into 
occupation, by the poverty-stricken dregs of a re- 
dundant population, nor by a gang of outcasts 
and ruffians, expelled from the bosom of a society 
which they contaminated, — but by men who in 
their own land had been both rich and noble, — 
with possessions to be taxed, and a spirit too 
haughty to endure taxation, — already acquainted 
with whatever of refinement and learning the age 
they lived in was capable of supplying, — it is not 
surprising that we should find its inhabitants, 
even from the first infancy of the republic, en- 
dowed with an amount of intellectual energy 
hardly to be expected in so secluded a commu- 
nity. 

Perhaps it was this very seclusion which stim- 
ulated into almost miraculous exuberance the 
mental powers already innate in the people. Un- 
distracted during several successive centuries by 
the bloody wars, and still more bloody political 
convulsions, which for too long a period rendered 
the sword of the warrior so much more important 
to European society than the pen of the scholar, 
the Icelandic settlers, devoting the long leisure of 
their winter nights to intellectual occupations, 
became the first of any European nation to cre- 
ate for themselves a native literature. Indeed, so 

4 



62 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

much more accustomed did they get to use their 
heads than their hands, that if an Icelander were 
injured he often avenged himself, not by cutting 
the throat of his antagonist, but by ridiculing 
him in some pasquinade, — sometimes, indeed, he 
did both ; and when the King of Denmark mal- 
treats the crew of an Icelandic vessel shipwrecked 
on his coast, their indignant countrymen send the 
barbarous monarch word, that by way of reprisal, 
they intend making as many lampoons on him as 
there are promontories in his dominions. Almost 
all the ancient Scandinavian manuscripts are 
Icelandic ; the negotiations between the Courts 
of the North were conducted by Icelandic diplo- 
matists ; the earliest topographical survey with 
which we are acquainted was Icelandic ; the cos- 
mogony of the Odin religion was formulated, and 
its doctrinal traditions and ritual reduced to a 
system, by Icelandic archaeologists ; and the first 
historical composition ever written by any Euro- 
pean in the vernacular, was the product of Ice- 
landic genius. The title of this important work 
is " The Heimskringla" or world-circle* and its 
author was — Snorro Sturleson ! It consists of an 
account of the reigns of the Norwegian kings 

* So called because Heimskringla (world-circle) is the first 
word in the opening sentence of the manuscript which catches 
the eye. 



THE HBIMSKRINGLA. 63 

from mythic times down to about a. d. 1150, that 
is to say, a few years before the death of our own 
Henry II. ; but detailed by the old Sagaman with 
so much art and cleverness as almost to combine 
the dramatic power of Macaulay with Claren- 
don's delicate delineation of character, and the 
charming loquacity of Mr. Pepys. His stirring 
sea-fights, his tender love-stories, and delightful 
bits of domestic gossip, are really inimitable; — 
you actually live with the people he brings upon 
the stage, as intimately as you do with FalstafF, 
Percy, or Prince Hal ; and there is something in 
the bearing of those old heroic figures who form 
his dramatis personce, so grand and noble, that it 
is impossible to read the story of their earnest 
stirring lives without a feeling of almost passion- 
ate interest, — an effect which no tale frozen up in 
the monkish Latin of the Saxon annalists has 
ever produced upon me. 

As for Snorro's own life, it was eventful and 
tragic enough. Unscrupulous, turbulent, greedy 
of money, — he married two heiresses, — the one, 
however, becoming the colleague, not the succes- 
sor of the other. This arrangement naturally led 
to embarrassment. His wealth created envy, his 
excessive haughtiness disgusted his sturdy fellow- 
countrymen. He was suspected of desiring to 
make the republic an appanage of the Norwegian 



64 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

crown, in the hope of himself becoming viceroy ; 
and at last, on a dark September night, of the 
year 1241, he was murdered in his house at Reik- 
holt by his three sons-in-law. 

The same century which produced the Hero- 
dotean work of Sturleson also gave birth to a 
whole body of miscellaneous Icelandic literature, 
— though in Britain and elsewhere bookmaking 
was entirely confined to the monks, and merely 
consisted in the compilation of a series of bald 
annals locked up in bad Latin. It is true, 
Thomas of Ercildoune was a contemporary of 
Snorro's ; but he is known to us more as a magi- 
cian than as a man of letters ; whereas histories, 
memoirs, romances, biographies, poetry, statistics, 
novels, calendars, specimens of almost every kind 
of composition, are to be found even among the 
meagre relics which have survived the literary de- 
cadence that supervened on the extinction of the 
republic. 

It is to these same spirited chroniclers that we 
are indebted for the preservation of two of the 
most remarkable facts in the history of the world. 
The colonization of Greenland by Europeans in 
the 10th century, and the discovery of America 
by the Icelanders at the commencement of the 
11th. 

The story is rather curious. 



COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND. 65 

Shortly after the arrival of the first settlers in 
Iceland, a mariner of the name of Eric the Red 
discovers a country away to the west, which, in 
consequence of its fruitful appearance, he calls 
Greenland. In the course of a few years the 
new land has become so thickly inhabited that it 
is necessary to erect the district into an episcopal 
see ; and at last, in 1448, we have a brief of 
Pope Nicolas " granting to his beloved children 
of Greenland, in consideration of their having 
erected many sacred buildings and a splendid 
cathedral," — a new bishop and a fresh supply of 
priests. At the commencement, however, of the 
next century, this colony of Greenland, with its 
bishops, priests, and people, its one hundred and 
ninety townships, its cathedral, its churches, its 
monasteries, suddenly fades into oblivion, like the 
fabric of a dream. The memory of its existence 
perishes, and the allusions made to it in the old 
Scandinavian Sagas gradually come to be consid- 
ered poetical inventions or pious frauds. At last, 
after a lapse of four hundred years, some Danish 
missionaries set out to convert the Esquimaux ; 
and there, far within Davis's Straits, are discov- 
ered vestiges of the ancient settlement, — remains 
of houses, paths, walls, churches, tombstones, and 
inscriptions.* 

* On one tombstone there was written in Runic, " Vigdis 



66 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

What could have been the calamity which 
suddenly annihilated this Christian people, it is 
impossible to say ; whether they were massacred 
by some warlike tribe of natives, or swept off to 
the last man by the terrible pestilence of 1349, 
called " The Black Death," or, — most horrible 
conjecture of all, — beleaguered by vast masses 
of ice setting down from the Polar Sea along the 
eastern coast of Greenland, and thus miserably 
frozen, — we are never likely to know — so utterly 
did they perish, so mysterious has been their 
doom. 

On the other hand, certain traditions, with 
regard to the discovery of a vast continent by 
their forefathers away in the southwest, seem 
never entirely to have died out of the memory 

M D. Hvilir Her ; Glwde Gude Sal Hennar." " Vigdessa 
rests here ; God gladden her soul." But the most interesting 
of these inscriptions is one discovered, in 1824, in an island 
in Baffin's Bay, in latitude 72° 55', as it shows how boldly 
those Northmen must have penetrated into regions supposed 
to have been unvisited by man before the voyages of our 
modern navigators : " Erling Sighvatson and Biomo Thor- 
darson, and Eindrid Oddson, on Saturday before Ascension- 
week, raised these marks and cleared ground, 11 35." This 
date of Ascension-week implies that these three men wintered 
here, which must lead us to imagine that at that time, seven 
hundred years ago, the climate was less inclement than it is 
now. 



A GENOESE SKIPPER OF THE 15TH CENTURY. 67 

of the Icelanders ; and in the month of Febru- 
ary, 1477, there arrives at Reykjavik, in a barque 
belonging to the port of Bristol, a certain long, 
visaged, gray-eyed Genoese mariner, who was 
observed to take an amazing interest in hunting 
up whatever was known on the subject. Whether 
Columbus — for it was no less a personage than 
he — really learned any thing to confirm him in 
his noble resolutions, is uncertain ; but we have 
still extant an historical manuscript, written at all 
events before the year 1395, that is to say, one 
hundred years prior to Columbus's voyage, which 
contains a minute account of how a certain per- 
son named Lief, while sailing over to Greenland, 
was driven out of his course by contrary winds, 
until he found himself off an extensive and un- 
known coast, which increased in beauty and 
fertility as he descended south, and how in con- 
sequence of the representation Lief made on his 
return, successive expeditions were undertaken in 
the same direction. On two occasions their wives 
seem to have accompanied the adventurers; of 
one ship's company the skipper was a lady ; 
while two parties even wintered in the new land, 
built houses, and prepared to colonize. For some 
reason, however, the intention was abandoned ; 
and in process of time these early voyages came 
to be considered as apocryphal as the Phoenician 



68 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

circumnavigation of Africa in the time of Pha- 
raoh Necho. 

It is quite uncertain how low a latitude in 
America the Northmen ever reached; but from 
the description given of the scenery, products, 
and inhabitants, — from the mildness of the 
weather, — and from the length of the day on the 
21st of December, — it is conjectured they could 
not have descended much farther than New- 
foundland, Nova Scotia, or, at most, the coast of 
Massachusetts.* 

But to return to more material matters. 

Yesterday — no — the day before — in fact I for- 
get the date of the day — I don't believe it had 
one — all I know is, I have not been in bed since, 
— we dined at the Governor's ; — though dinner 
is too modest a term to apply to the entertain- 
ment. 

The invitation was for four o'clock, and at half- 
past three we pulled ashore in the gig ; I, inno- 
cent that I was, in a well-fitting white waistcoat. 

The Government House, like all the others, is 

* There is a certain piece of rock on the Taunton River, in 
Massachusetts, called the Deighton Stone, on which are to be 
seen rude configurations, for a long time supposed to be a 
Runic inscription executed by these Scandinavian voyagers ; 
but there can be now no longer any doubt of this inscription, 
such as it is, being of Indian execution. 



AN ICELANDIC DINNER. 69 

built of wood, on the top of a hillock ; the only- 
accession of dignity it can boast being a little bit 
of mangy kitchen-garden that hangs down in 
front to the road, like a soiled apron. There was 
no lock, handle, bell, or knocker to the door, but 
immediately on our approach, a servant present- 
ed himself, and ushered us into the room where 
Count Trampe was waiting to welcome us. 
After having been presented to his wife, we pro- 
ceeded to shake hands with the other guests, most 
of whom I already knew ; and I was glad to find 
that, at all events in Iceland, people did not con- 
sider it necessary to pass the ten minutes which 
precede the announcement of dinner as if they 
had assembled to assist at the opening of their 
entertainer's will, instead of his oysters. The 
company consisted of the chief dignitaries of the 
island, including the Bishop, the Chief Justice, 
&c. &c. some of them in uniform, and all with 
holiday faces. As soon as the door was opened, 
Count Trampe tucked me under his arm — two 
other gentlemen did the same to my two com- 
panions — and we streamed into the dining-room. 
The table was very prettily arranged with flowers, 
plate, and a forest of glasses. Fitzgerald and I 
were placed on either side of our host, the other 
guests, in due order, beyond. On my left sat the 
Rector, and opposite, next to Fitz, the chief phy- 

4* 



70 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

sician of the island. Then began a series of 
transactions of which I have no distinct recollec- 
tion ; in fact, the events of the next five hours 
recur to me in as great disarray as reappear the 
vestiges of a country that has been disfigured by 
some deluge. If I give you any thing like a con- 
nected account of what passed, you must thank 
Sigurdr's more solid temperament ; for the Doc- 
tor looked quite foolish when I asked him — tried 
to feel my pulse — could not find it — and then 
wrote the following prescription, which I believe 
to be nothing more than an invoice of the num- 
ber of bottles he himself disposed of.* 

I gather, then, from evidence — internal and 
otherwise — that the dinner was excellent, and 
that we were helped in Benjamite proportions ; 
but as before the soup was finished I was already 
hard at work hobnobbing with my two neigh- 



* Copy of Dr. F.'s- prescription : — 




# 




vin : claret : 


iii btls. 


vin : champ : 


iv btls. 


vin : sherr : 


i bti. 


vin : Rheni : 


ii btls. 


aqua vitae 


viii gls. 


trigint : poc : aegrot : cap 


: quotic 


iik : die Martis, 




Junii 27. 





C. E. F. 



AN ICELANDIC DINNER. 71 

bours, it is not to be expected I should remember 
the bill of fare. 

"With the peculiar manners used in Scandi- 
navian skoal-drinking I was already well ac- 
quainted. In the nice conduct of a wine-glass 
I knew that I excelled, and having an heredi- 
tary horror of heel-taps, I prepared with a firm 
heart to respond to the friendly provocations of 
my host. I only wish you could have seen 
how his kind face beamed with approval when I 
chinked my first bumper against his, and having 
emptied it at a draught, turned it towards him 
bottom upwards, with the orthodox twist. Soon, 
however, things began to look more serious even 
than I had expected. I knew well that to refuse 
a toast, or to half empty your glass, was consid- 
ered churlish. I had come determined to accept 
my host's hospitality as cordially as it was offered. 
I was willing, at a pinch, to payer de ma per- 
sonne ; should he not be content with seeing me 
at his table, I was ready, if need were, to remain 
under it ; but at the rate we were then going it 
seemed probable this consummation would take 
place before the second course ; so, after having 
exchanged a dozen rounds of sherry and cham- 
pagne with my two neighbours, I pretended not 
to observe that my glass had been refilled ; and, 
like the sea-captain, who slipping from between 



72 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

his two opponents, left them to blaze away at 
each other the long night through, — withdrew 
from the combat. But it would not do ; with 
untasted bumpers, and dejected faces, they 
politely waited until I should give the signal for 
a renewal of hostilities, as they well deserved to 
be called. Then there came over me a horrid 
wicked feeling. What if I should endeavour to 
floor the Governor, and so literally turn the 
tables on him ! It is true I had lived for five- 
and-twenty years without touching wine — but 
was not I my great-grandfather's great-grandson, 
and an Irish peer to boot? Were there not 
traditions, too, on the other side of the house, of 
casks of claret brought up into the dining-room, 
the door locked, and the key thrown out of the 
window ? With such antecedents to sustain 
me, I ought to be able to hold my own against 
the staunchest toper in Iceland ! So, with a 
devil glittering in my left eye, I winked defiance 
right and left, and away we went at it again for 
another five-and-forty minutes. At last their 
fire slackened ; I had partially quelled both the 
Governor and the Rector, and still survived. It 
is true I did not feel comfortable ; but it was in 
the neighbourhood of my waistcoat, not my head, 
I suffered. " I am not well, but I will not out," 

I soliloquized, with LepiduS* "dog fiot to KTepov," 

* Antony and Cleopatra. 



AN ICELANDIC DINNER. 73 

I would have added, had I dared. Still the neck 
of the banquet was broken — Fitzgerald's chair 
was not yet empty, — could we hold out perhaps 
a quarter of an hour longer, our reputation was 
established ; guess then my horror, when the 
Icelandic Doctor, shouting his favourite dogma, 
by way of battle-cry, " Si trigintis guttis, mor- 
bum curare velis, erras," gave the signal for an 
unexpected onslaught, and the twenty guests 
poured down on me in succession. I really 
thought I should have run away from the house ; 
but the true family blood, I suppose, began to 
show itself, and with a calmness almost fright- 
ful, I received them one by one. 

After this began the public toasts. 

Although up to this time I had kept a certain 
portion of my wits about me, the subsequent 
hours of the entertainment became thenceforth 
enveloped in a dreamy mystery. I can perfectly 
recall the look of the sheaf of glasses that stood 
before me, six in number ; I could draw the pat- 
tern of each ; I remember feeling a lazy wonder 
they should always be full, though I did nothing 
but empty them, — and at last solved the phe- 
nomenon by concluding I had become a kind of 
Danaid, whose punishment, not whose sentence, 
had been reversed ; then suddenly I felt as if I 
were disembodied, — a distant spectator of my 



74 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

own performances, and of the feast at which my 
person remained seated. The voices of my host, 
of the Rector, of the Chief Justice, became thin 
and low, as though they reached me through a 
whispering tube; and when I rose to speak, it 
was as to an audience in another sphere, and in 
a language of another state of being ; yet, how- 
ever unintelligible to myself, I must have been in 
some sort understood, for at the end of each sen- 
tence, cheers, faint as the roar of waters on a 
far-off strand, floated towards me ; and if I am 
to believe a report of the proceedings subse- 
quently shown us, I must have become polyglot 
in my cups. According to that report it seems 
the Governor threw off, (I wonder he did not do 
something else,) with the Queen's health in 
French ; to which I responded in the same lan- 
guage. Then the Rector, in English, proposed 
my health, — under the circumstances a cruel 
mockery, — but to which, ill as I was, I responded 
very gallantly by drinking to the beaux yeux of 
the Countess. Then somebody else drank suc- 
cess to Great Britain, and I see it was followed 
by really a very learned discourse by Lord D., in 
honour of the ancient Icelanders ; during which 
he alluded to their discovery of America, and 
Columbus's visit. Then came a couple of speeches 
in Icelandic, after which the Bishop, in a mag- 



SPEECHIFYING. 75 

nificent Latin oration of some twenty minutes, 
a second time proposes my health ; to which, 
utterly at my wits' end, I had the audacity to 
reply in the same language. As it is fit so great 
an effort of oratory should not perish, I send you 
some of its choicest specimens :- — 

" Viri illustres," I began, " insolitus ut sum at 
publicum loquendum ego propero respondere ad 
complimentum quod recte reverendus prelaticus 
mihi fecit, in proponendo meam salutem : et sup- 
plico vos credere quod multum gratificatus et 
flattificatus sum honore tarn distincto. 

" Bibere, viri illustres, res est, quae in omnibus 
terris, 'domum venit ad hominum negotia et 
pectora : ' * f requirit ' haustum longum, haustum 
fortem, et haustum omnes simul : ' J ut canit 
Poeta, ' unum tactum Naturae totum orbem facit 
consanguineum,' § et hominis Natura est — bi- 
bere. || 

* As the happiness of these quotations seemed to produce 
a very pleasing effect on my auditors, I subjoin a translation 
of them for the benefit of the unlearned : — 

t " Comes home to men's business and bosoms." — Pater- 
familias, Times. 

% " A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether." — Nel- 
son at the Nile. 

§ " One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." — 
Jeremy Bentham. 

|| Apophthegm by the late Lord Mountcoffeehouse. 



76 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" Viri illustres, alteram est sentimentum equal- 
iter universale ; terra communis super quam sep- 
tentrionales et meridionales, eadem enthusiasm^, 
convenire possunt ; est necesse quod id nomi- 
narem ? Ad pulchrum sexum devotio ! 

" Amor regit palatium, castra, lucum : * Dubito 
sub quo capite vestram jucundam civitatem nu- 
merare debeam. Palatium? non Regem! Cas- 
tra ? non milites ! lucum ? non ullam arborem 
habetis! Tamen Cupido vos dominat haud ali- 
ter quam alios, — et verginum Islandarum pulchri- 
tudo, per omnes regiones cognita est. 

"Bibamus salutem earum, et confusionem ad 
omnes bacularios ; speramus quod eae carae et 
benedietae creaturee invenient tot maritos quot 
velint, — quod geminos quottanis habeant, et quod 
earum filise, maternum exemplum sequentes, gen- 
tem Islandicam perpetuent in saecula sseculo- 
rum." 

The last words mechanically rolled out, in the 
same " ore rotundo " with which the poor old 
Dean of Christ-church used to finish his Gloria, 
&c. in the cathedral. 

Then followed more speeches, — a great chink- 
ing of glasses, — a Babel of conversation — a kind 
of dance round the table, where we successively 

* "Love rules the court, the camp, the grove." — Venerable 
Bede. 



A SCOTCH REEL. 77 

gave each alternate hand, as in the last figure of 
the Lancers, — a hearty embrace from the Gov- 
ernor, — and finally, — silence, daylight, and fresh 
air, as we stumbled forth into the street. 

Now what was to be done? To go to bed 
was impossible. It was eleven o'clock by our 
watches, and as bright as noon. Fitz said it 
was twenty-two o'clock ; but by this time he had 
reached that point of enlargement of the mind, 
and development of the visual organs, which is 
expressed by the term " seeing double," — though 
he now pretends he was only reckoning time in 
the Venetian manner. We were in the position 
of three fast young men about Reykjavik, deter- 
mined to make a night of it, but without the 
wherewithal. There were neither knockers to 
steal, nor watchmen to bonnet. At last we re- 
membered that the apothecary's wife had a con- 
versazione, to which she had kindly invited us; 
and accordingly, off we went to her house. Here 
we found a number of French officers, a piano, 
and a young lady; in consequence of which the 
drum soon became a ball. Finally, it was pro- 
posed we should dance a reel; the second lieu- 
tenant of The Artemise had once seen one 
when his ship was riding out a gale in the 
Clyde; — the little lady had frequently studied a 
picture of the Highland fling on the outside of 



78 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

a copy of Scotch music ; — I could dance a jig — 
the set was complete, all we wanted was the 
music. Luckily the lady of the house knew the 
song of " Annie Laurie," — played fast it made 
an excellent reel tune. As you may suppose, all 
succeeded admirably; we nearly died of laugh- 
ing, and I only wish Lord Breadalbane had been 
by to see. 

At one in the morning, our danseuse retiring 
to rest, the ball necessarily terminated; but the 
Governor's dinner still forbidding bed, we deter- 
mined on a sail in the cutter to some islands 
about three-quarters of a mile out to sea ; and I 
do not think I shall ever forget the delicious sen- 
sation of lying down lazily in the stern-sheets, 
and listening to the rippling of the water against 
the bows of the boat, as she glided away towards 
them. The dreamy, misty landscape, — each head- 
land silently sleeping in the unearthly light, — 
Sncefell, from whose far-off peaks the midnight 
sun, though lost to us, had never faded, — the 
Plutonic crags that stood around, so gaunt and 
weird, — the quaint fresh life I had been lately 
leading, — all combined to promise such an exist- 
ence of novelty and excitement in that strange 
Arctic region on the threshold of which we were 
now pausing, that I could not sufficiently con- 
gratulate myself on our good fortune. Soon, 



WINGED RABBITS. 79 

however, the grating of our keel upon the strand 
disturbed my reflections, and by the time I had 
unaccountably stepped up to my knees in the 
water, I was thoroughly aw r ake, and in a condi- 
tion to explore the island. It seemed to be about 
three-quarters of a mile long, not very broad, and 
a complete rabbit warren ; in fact, I could not 
walk a dozen yards without tripping up in the 
numerous burrows by which the ground was 
honeycombed; at last, on turning a corner, we 
suddenly came on a dozen rabbits, gravely sitting 
at the mouths of their holes. They were quite 
white, without ears, and with scarlet noses. I 
made several desperate attempts to catch some 
of these singular animals, but though one or 
two allowed me to come pretty near, just as I 
thought my prize was secure, in some unac- 
countable manner — it made unto itself wings, 
and literally flew away ! Moreover, if my eye- 
sight did not share the peculiar development 
which affected that of the Doctor's, I should 
say that these rabbits flew in pairs. Red-nosed, 
winged rabbits ! I had never heard or read of 
the species ; and I naturally grew enthusiastic in 
the chase, hoping to bring home a choice speci- 
men to astonish our English naturalists. With 
some difficulty we managed to catch one or two, 
which had run into their holes instead of flying 



80 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

away. They bit and scratched like tiger-cats, 
and screamed like parrots; indeed, on a nearer 
inspection, I am obliged to confess that they 
assumed the appearance of birds,* which may 
perhaps account for their powers of flight. A 
slight confusion still remains in my mind as to 
the real nature of the creatures. 

At about nine o'clock we returned to break- 
fast ; and the rest of the day was spent in taking 
leave of our friends, and organizing the baggage- 
train, which was to start at midnight, under the 
command of the cook. The cavalcade consisted 
of eighteen horses, but of these only one half 
were laden, two animals being told off to each 
burden, which is shifted from the back of the 
one to that of the other every four hours. The 
pack-saddles were rude, but serviceable articles, 
with hooks on either side, on which a pair of 
oblong little chests were slung; strips of turf 
being stuffed beneath to prevent the creature's 
back being galled. Such of our goods as could 
not be conveniently stowed away in the chests 
were fitted on to the top, in whatever manner 
their size and weight admitted, each pony carry- 
ing about 140 lbs. The photographic apparatus 
caused us the greatest trouble, and had to be 

* The Puffin (Alca arcticd). In Icelandic, Soe-papagoie ; 
in Scotland, Priest; and in Cornwall, Pope, 



DUCROW. 81 

distributed between two beasts. As w T as to be 
expected, the guides who assisted us packed the 
nitrate of silver bath upside down ; an outrage 
the nature of which you cannot appreciate. At 
last every thing was pretty well arranged, — guns, 
powder, shot, tea-kettles, rice, tents, beds, porta- 
ble soups, &c. all stowed away, — when the de- 
sponding Wilson came to me, his chin sweeping 
the ground, to say — that he very much feared the 
cook would die of the ride, — that he had never 
been on horseback in his life, — that as an experi- 
ment he had hired a pony that very morning at 
his own charges, — had been run away with, — 
but having been caught and brought home by 
an honest Icelander, was now lying down — that 
position being the one he found most conven- 
ient. 

As the first day's journey was two-and-thirty 
miles, and would probably necessitate his being 
twelve or thirteen hours in the saddle, I began to 
be really alarmed for my poor chef; but finding 
on inquiry that these gloomy prognostics were 
entirely voluntary on the part of Mr. Wilson, that 
the officer in question was full of zeal, and only 
too anxious to add horsemanship to his other 
accomplishments, I did not interfere. As for 
Wilson himself, it is not a marvel if he should 
see things a little askew ; for some unaccountable 



82 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

reason, he chose to sleep last night in the open 
air, on the top of a hen-coop, and naturally awoke 
this morning with a crick in his neck, and his face 
so immovably fixed over his left shoulder, that the 
efforts of all the ship's company have not been 
able to twist it back ; with the help of a tackle, 
however, I think we shall eventually brace it 
square again. 

At two we went to lunch with the Rector. 
The entertainment bore a strong family likeness 
to our last night's dinner ; but as I wanted after- 
wards to exhibit my magic lantern to his little 
daughter Raghnilder, and a select party of her 
young friends, we contrived to elude doing full 
justice to it. During the remainder of the even- 
ing, like Job's children, we went about feasting 
from house to house, taking leave of friends who 
could not have been kinder had they known us 
all our lives, and interchanging little gifts and 
souvenirs. With the Governor I have left a print 
from the Princess Royal's drawing of the dead 
soldier in the Crimea. From the Rector of the 
cathedral church I have received some very curi- 
ous books, — almost the first printed in the island; 
I had been very anxious to obtain some speci- 
mens of ancient Icelandic manuscripts, but the 
island has long since been ransacked of its liter- 
ary treasures ; and to the kindness of the French 



THE BAGGAGE STARTS. 83 

consul I am indebted for a charming little white 
fox, the drollest and prettiest little beast I ever 
saw. 

Having dined on board The Artemise, we ad- 
journed at eleven o'clock to the beach to witness 
the departure of the baggage. The ponies were 
all drawn up in one long file, the head of each 
being tied to the tail of the one immediately be- 
fore him. Additional articles were stowed away 
here and there among the boxes. The last in- 
structions were given by Sigurdr to the guides, 
and every thing was declared ready for a start. 
With the air of an equestrian star, descending 
into the arena of Astley's Amphitheatre, the cook 
then stepped forward, made me a superb bow, 
and was assisted into the saddle. My little 
cabin-boy accompanied him as aid-de-camp. 

The jovial Wilson rides with us to-morrow. 
Unless we get his head round during the night, 
he will have to sit facing his horse's tail, in order 
to see before him. 

We do not seem to run any danger of falling 
short of provisions, as by all accounts there are 
birds enough in the interior of the country to feed 
an Israelitish emigration. 



84 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



LETTER VII. 

KISSES — WILSON ON HORSEBACK — A LAVA PLATEAU — 
THING VALLA — ALMANNAGIA — RABNAGIA— OUR TENT — 
THE SHIVERED PLAIN — WITCH-DROWNING — A PARLIA- 
MENTARY DEBATE, A. D. 1000 — THANGBRAND THE MIS- 
SIONARY — A GERMAN GNAT-CATCHER — THE MYSTICAL 
MOUNTAINS — SIR OLAF — HECKLA — SKAPTA JOKUL — THE 
FIRE DELUGE OF 1783 — WE REACH THE GEYSER — STROKR 
— FITZ'S BONNE FORTUNE — MORE KISSES — AN ERUPTION 
— PRINCE NAPOLEON — RETURN — TRADE — POPULATION 
— A MUTINY — THE REINE HORTENSE — THE SEVEN DUTCH- 
MEN — A BALL — LOW DRESSES — NORTHWARD HO ! 

Reykjavik, July 7, 1856. 

At last I have seen the famous Geysers, of 
which every one has heard so much ; but I have 
also seen Thingvalla, of which no one has heard 
any thing. The Geysers are certainly wonderful 
marvels of nature, but more wonderful, more 
marvellous is Thingvalla ; and if the one repay 
you for crossing the Spanish Sea, it would be 
worth while to go round the world to reach the 
other. 

Of the boiling fountains I think I can give you 
a good idea, but whether I can contrive to draw 



WE START. 85 

for you any thing like a comprehensible picture 
of the shape and nature of the Almannagja, the 
Hrafnagja, and the lava vale, called Thingvalla, 
that lies between them, I am doubtful. Before 
coming to Iceland I had read every account that 
had been written of Thingvalla by any former 
traveller, and when I saw it, it appeared to me a 
place of which I had never heard ; so I suppose I 
shall come to grief in as melancholy a manner as 
my predecessors, whose ineffectual pages whiten 
the entrance to the valley they have failed to 
describe. 

Having superintended — as I think I mentioned 
to you in my last letter — the midnight departure 
of the cook, guides, and luggage, we returned 
on board for a good night's rest, which we all 
needed. The start was settled for the next morn- 
ing at eleven o'clock, and you may suppose we 
were not sorry to find, on waking, the bright joy- 
ous sunshine pouring down through the cabin 
skylight, and illuminating the white-robed, well- 
furnished breakfast-table with more than usual 
splendour. At the appointed hour we rowed 
ashore to where our eight ponies — two being 
assigned to each of us, to be ridden alternately — 
were standing ready bridled and saddled, at the 
house of one of our kindest friends. Of course, 
though but just risen from breakfast, the inevita- 
5 



86 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

ble invitation to eat and drink awaited us ; and 
another half-hour was spent in sipping cups of 
coffee poured out for us with much laughter by 
our hostess and her pretty daughter. At last, the 
necessary libations accomplished, we rose to go. 
Turning round to Fitz, I whispered, how I had 
always understood it was the proper thing in 
Iceland for travellers departing on a journey to 
kiss the ladies who had been good enough to 
entertain them, — little imagining he would take 
me at my word. Guess then my horror, when I 
suddenly saw him, with an intrepidity I envied 
but dare not imitate, first embrace the mamma, 
by way of prelude, and then proceed, in the most 
natural manner possible, to make the same tender 
advances to the daughter. I confess I remained 
dumb with consternation ; the room swam round 
before me ; Texpected the next minute we should 
be packed neck and crop into the street, and that 
the young lady would have gone off into hys- 
terics. It turned out, however, that such was the 
very last thing she was thinking of doing. With 
a simple frankness that became her more than all 
the boarding-school graces in the world, her eyes 
dancing with mischief and good humour, she met 
him half-way, and pouting out two rosy lips, gave 
him as hearty a kiss as it might ever be the good 
fortune of one of us he-creatures to receive. From 



KISSES. 87 

that moment I determined to conform for the 
future to the customs of the inhabitants. 

Fresh from favours such as these, it was not 
surprising we should start in the highest spirits. 
With a courtesy peculiar to Iceland, Dr. Hjalte- 
lin, the most jovial of doctors, — and another gen- 
tleman, insisted on convoying us the first dozen 
miles of our journey ; and as we clattered away 
through the wooden streets, I think a merrier 
party never set out from Reykjavik. In front 
scampered the three spare ponies, without bri- 
dles, saddles, or any sense of moral responsibility, 
flinging up their heels, biting and neighing like 
mad things ; then came Sigurdr, now become 
our chief, surrounded by the rest of the caval- 
cade ; and finally, at a little distance, plunged in 
profound melancholy, rode "Wilson. Never shall 
I forget his appearance. During the night his 
head had come partially straight, but by way of 
precaution, I suppose, he had conceived the idea 
of burying it down to the chin in a huge seal- 
skin helmet I had given him against the inclem- 
encies of the Polar Sea. As on this occasion the 
thermometer was at 81°, and a coup-de-soleil was 
the chief thing to be feared, a ton of fur round 
his skull was scarcely necessary. Seamen's trou- 
sers, a bright scarlet jersey, and jack-boots fringed 
with catskin, completed his costume ; and as he 



88 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

proceeded along in his usual state of chronic 
consternation, with my rifle slung at his back 
and a couple of telescopes over his shoulder, he 
looked the image of Robinson Crusoe, fresh from 
having seen the footprint. 

A couple of hours' ride across the lava plain 
we had previously traversed brought us to a river, 
where our Reykjavik friends, after showing us a 
salmon weir, finally took their leave, with many 
kind wishes for our prosperity. On looking 
through the clear water that hissed and bub- 
bled through the wooden sluice, the Doctor had 
caught sight of an apparently dead salmon, 
jammed up against its wooden bars ; but on 
pulling him out, he proved to be still breathing, 
though his tail was immovably twisted into his 
mouth. A consultation taking place, the Doctors 
both agreed that it was a case of pleurostho- 
tonos, brought on by mechanical injury to the 
spine, (we had just been talking of Palmer's 
trial,) and that he was perfectly fit for food. In 
accordance with this verdict, he was knocked on 
the head, and slung at Wilson's saddle-bow. 
Left to ourselves, we now pushed on as rapidly 
as we could, though the track across the lava 
was so uneven, that every moment I expected 
Snorro (for thus have I christened my pony) 
would be on his nose. In another hour we were 



A HALT AND LUNCH. 89 

among the hills. The scenery of this part of the 
journey was not very beautiful, the mountains 
not being remarkable either for their size or 
shape ; but here and there we came upon pretty 
bits, not unlike some of the barren parts of Scot- 
land, with quiet blue lakes sleeping in the soli- 
tude. 

After wandering along for some time in a 
broad open valley, that gradually narrowed to a 
glen, we reached a grassy patch. As it was past 
three o'clock, Sigurdr proposed a halt. 

Unbridling and unsaddling our steeds, we 
turned them loose upon the pasture, and sat our- 
selves down on a sunny knoll to lunch. For the 
first time since landing in Iceland I felt hungry ; 
as for the first time, four successive hours had 
elapsed without our having been compelled to 
take a snack. The appetites of the ponies 
seemed equally good, though probably with them 
hunger was no such novelty. Wilson looked 
sad. He confided to me privately that he feared 
his trousers would not last such jolting many 
days ; but his dolefulness, like a bit of minor in 
a sparkling melody, only made our jollity more 
radiant. In about half-an-hour Sigurdr gave the 
signal for a start ; and having caught, saddled, 
and bridled the three unridden ponies, we drove 



90 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Snorro and his companions to the front, and pro- 
ceeded on our way rejoicing. After an hour's 
gradual ascent through a picturesque ravine, we 
emerged upon an immense desolate plateau of 
lava, that stretched away for miles and miles like 
a great stony sea. A more barren desert you 
cannot conceive. Innumerable boulders, relics 
of the glacial period, encumbered the track. We 
could only go at a foot-pace. Not a blade of 
grass, not a strip of green, enlivened the pros- 
pect, and the only sound we heard was the croak 
of the curlew and the wail of the plover. Hour 
after hour we plodded on, but the gray waste 
seemed interminable, boundless; and the only 
consolation Sigurdr would vouchsafe was that 
our journey's end lay on this side of some purple 
mountains that peeped like the tents of a demon 
leaguer above the stony horizon. 

As it was already eight o'clock, and we had 
been told the entire distance from Eeykjavik to 
Thingvalla was only five-and-thirty miles, I could 
not comprehend how so great a space should 
still separate us from our destination. Conclud- 
ing more time had been lost in shooting, lunch- 
ing, &c. by the way than we had supposed, I put 
my pony into a canter, and determined to make 
short work of the dozen miles which seemed still 



THING VALLA. 91 

to lie between us and the hills, on this side of 
which I understood from Sigurdr our encamp- 
ment for the night was to be pitched. 

Judge then of my astonishment when, a few 
minutes afterwards, I was arrested in full career 
by a tremendous precipice, or rather chasm, 
which suddenly gaped beneath my feet, and 
completely separated the barren plateau we had 
been so painfully traversing from a lovely, gay, 
sunlit flat, ten miles broad, that lay, — sunk at a 
level lower by a hundred feet, — between us and 
the opposite mountains. I was never so com- 
pletely taken by surprise ; Sigurdr's purposely 
vague description of our halting-place was ac- 
counted for. 

We had reached the famous Almanna Gja. 
Like a black rampart in the distance, the cor- 
responding chasm of the Hrafna Gja cut across 
the lower slope of the distant hills, and between 
them now slept in beauty and sunshine the broad 
verdant* plain of Thingvalla. 

Ages ago, — who shall say how long, — some 
vast commotion shook the foundations of the 
island, and bubbling up from sources far away 
amid the inland hills, a fiery deluge must have 
rushed down between their ridges, until, escaping 

* The plain of Thingvalla is in a great measure clothed 
with birch brushwood. 



92 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

from the narrower gorges, it found space to 
spread itself into one broad sheet of molten 
stone over an entire district of country, reducing 
its varied surface to one vast blackened level. 

One of two things then occurred : either the 
vitrified mass contracting as it cooled, — the cen- 
tre area of fifty square miles burst asunder at 
either side from the adjoining plateau, and sink- 
ing down to its present level, left the two parallel 
Gjas, or chasms, which form its lateral bounda- 
ries, to mark the limits of the disruption ; or else, 
while the pith or marrow of the lava was still in 
a fluid state, its upper surface became solid, and 
formed a roof beneath which the molton stream 
flowed on to lower levels, leaving a vast cavern 
into which the upper crust subsequently plumped 
down.* 

But to return to where I left myself, on the 
edge of the cliff, gazing down with astonished 
eyes over the panorama of land and water im- 

* I feel it is very presumptuous in me to hazard a conjecture 
on a subject with which my want of geological knowledge 
renders me quite incompetent to deal ; but however incorrect 
either of the above suppositions may be justly considered by the 
philosophers, they will perhaps serve to convey to the un- 
learned reader, for whose amusement (not instruction) these 
letters are intended, the impression conveyed to my mind by 
what I saw, and so help out the picture I am trying to fill in 
for him. 



OUR TENTS. 93 

bedded at my feet. I could scarcely speak for 
pleasure and surprise ; Fitz was equally taken 
aback, and as for Wilson, he looked as if he 
thought we had arrived at the end of the world. 
After having allowed us sufficient time to admire 
the prospect, Sigurdr turned to the left, along the 
edge of the precipice, until we reached a narrow 
pathway accidentally formed down a longitudinal 
niche in the splintered face of the cliff, which led 
across the bottom, and up the opposite side of 
the Gja, into the plain of Thingvalla. By rights 
our tents ought to have arrived before us, but 
when we reached the little glebe where we ex- 
pected to find them pitched, no signs of servants, 
guides, or horses were to be seen. 

As we had not overtaken them ourselves, their 
non-appearance was inexplicable. Wilson sug- 
gested that, the cook having died on the road, the 
rest of the party must have turned aside to bury 
him ; and that we had passed unperceived during 
the interesting ceremony. Be the cause what it 
plight, the result was not agreeable. We were 
very tired, very hungry, and it had just begun to 
rain. 

It is true there was a clergyman's house and a 
church, both built of stones covered with turf 
sods, close by ; at the one, perhaps, we could get 
milk, and in the other we could sleep, as our 

5* 



94 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

betters — including Madame Pfeiffer — had done 
before us ; but its inside looked so dark and 
damp, and cold, and charnel-like, that one really- 
doubted whether the lying in the churchyard 
would not be snugger. You may guess, then, 
how great was my relief when our belated bag- 
gage-train was descried against the sky-line, as it 
slowly wended its way along the purple edge of 
the precipice toward the staircase by which we 
had already descended. 

Half an hour afterwards the little plot of grass 
selected for the site of our encampment w T as cov- 
ered over with poles, boxes, cauldrons, tea-kettles, 
and all the paraphernalia of a gipsy settlement. 
Wilson's Kaffir experience came at once into 
play, and under his solemn but effective super- 
intendence, in less than twenty minutes the horn- 
headed tent rose, dry and taut, upon the sward." 
Having carpeted the floor with oil-skin rugs, and 
arranged our three beds with their clean crisp 
sheets, blankets, and coverlets complete, at the 
back, he proceeded to lay out the dinner table at 
the tent door, with as much decorum as if we 
were expecting the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
All this time the cook, who looked a little pale, 
and moved, I observed, with difficulty, was mys- 
teriously closeted with a spirit-lamp inside a 
diminutive tent of his own, through the door of 



A COOK THOROUGHLY DONE. 95 

which the most delicious whiffs occasionally 
permeated. Olaf and his comrades had driven 
off the horses to their pastures ; and Sigurdr and 
I were deep in a game of chess. Luckily, the 
shower, which threatened us a moment, had 
blown over. Though now almost nine o'clock 
p. m., it was as bright as mid-day ; the sky burned 
like a dome of gold, and silence and deep peace 
brooded over the fair grass-robed plain, that once 
had been so fearfully convulsed. 

You may be quite sure our dinner went off 
merrily ; the tetanus-afflicted salmon proved ex- 
cellent, the plover and ptarmigan were done to 
a turn, the mulligatawny beyond all praise ; 
but, alas ! I regret to add, that he — the artist, by 
whose skill these triumphs had been achieved — 
his task accomplished, — no longer sustained by the 
factitious energy resulting from his professional 
enthusiasm, — at last succumbed, and, retiring to 
the recesses of his tent, like Psyche in the 
" Princess," lay down, " and neither spoke nor 
stirred." 

After another game or two of chess, a pleasant 
chat, a gentle stroll, we also turned in ; and for 
the next eight hours perfect silence reigned 
throughout our little encampment, except when 
Wilson's sob-like snores shook to their founda- 
tion the canvas walls that sheltered him. 



96 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

When I awoke — I do not know at what hour, 
for from this time we kept no account of day or 
night — the white sunlight was streaming into the 
tent, and the whole landscape was gleaming and 
glowing in the beauty of one of the hottest sum- 
mer days I ever remember. We breakfasted in 
our shirt-sleeves, and I was forced to wrap my 
head in a white handkerchief, for fear of the sun. 
As we were all a little stiff after our ride, I could 
not resist the temptation of spending the day 
where we were, and examining more leisurely the 
Wonderful features of the neighbourhood. Inde- 
pendently of its natural curiosities, Thingvalla 
was most interesting to me on account of the 
historical associations connected with it. Here, 
long ago, at a period when feudal despotism was 
the only government known throughout Europe, 
free parliaments used to sit in peace, and regu- 
late the affairs of the young Republic ; and to 
this hour the precincts of its Commons House of 
Parliament are as distinct and unchanged as on 
the day when the high-hearted fathers of the 
emigration first consecrated them to the service 
of a free nation. By a freak of nature, as the 
subsiding plain cracked and shivered into twenty 
thousand fissures, an irregular oval area, of about 
two hundred feet by fifty, was left almost entirely 
surrounded by a crevice so deep and broad as to 



FLOSl'S FEAT. 97 

be utterly impassable ; — at one extremity alone a 
scanty causeway connected it with the adjoining 
level, and allowed of access to its interior. It is 
true, just at one point the encircling chasm grows 
so narrow as to be within the possibility of a 
jump; and an ancient worthy, named Flosi, pur- 
sued by his enemies, did actually take it at a fly : 
but as leaping an inch short would have entailed 
certain drowning in the bright green waters that 
sleep forty feet below, you can conceive there 
was never much danger of this entrance becom- 
ing a thoroughfare. I confess that for one mo- 
ment, while contemplating the scene of Flosi's 
exploit, I felt, — like a true Briton, — an idiotic 
desire to be able to say that I had done the 
same ; — that I survive to write this letter is a 
proof of my having come subsequently to my 
senses. 

This spot then, erected by nature almost into 
a fortress, the founders of the Icelandic constitu- 
tion chose for the meetings of their Thing,* or 
Parliament ; armed guards defended the entrance, 
while the grave bonders deliberated in security 
within : to this day, at the upper end of the place 
of meeting, may be seen the three hummocks, 



* From thing, to speak. We have a vestige of the same 
word in Dingwall, a town of Ross-shire. 



98 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

where sat in state the chiefs and judges of the 
land. 

But those grand old times have long since 
passed away. Along the banks of the Oxeraa 
no longer glisten the tents and booths of the 
assembled lieges ; no longer, stalwart berserks 
guard the narrow entrance to the Althing; ra- 
vens alone sit on the sacred Logberg; and the 
floor of the old Icelandic House of Commons is 
ignominiously cropped by the sheep of the par- 
son. For three hundred years did the gallant 
little Republic maintain its independence — three 
hundred years of unequalled literary and political 
vigour. At last its day of doom drew near. 
Like the Scotch nobles in the time of Elizabeth, 
their own chieftains intrigued against the liber- 
ties of the Icelandic people ; and in 1261 the 
island became an appendage of the Norwegian 
crown. Yet even then the deed embodying the 
concession of their independence was drawn up 
in such haughty terms as to resemble rather the 
offer of an equal alliance than the renunciation 
of imperial rights. Soon, however, the apathy 
which invariably benumbs the faculties of a 
people too entirely relieved from the discipline 
and obligation of self-government, lapped in 
complete inactivity, moral, political, and intel- 
lectual, — these once stirring islanders. On the 



LITERATI. 99 

amalgamation of the three Scandinavian mon- 
archies, at the union of Cairn ar, the allegiance of 
the people of Iceland was passively transferred 
to the Danish crown. Ever since that time, Dan- 
ish pro-consuls have administered their govern- 
ment, and Danish restrictions have regulated 
their trade. The traditions of their ancient au- 
tonomy have become as unsubstantial and obso- 
lete as those which record the vanished fame of 
their poets and historians, and the exploits of 
their mariners. It is true, the adoption of the 
Lutheran religion galvanized for a moment into 
the semblance of activity the old literary spirit. 
A printing-press was introduced as early as 1530, 
and ever since the sixteenth century many works 
of merit have been produced, from time to time, 
by Icelandic genius. Shakspeare, Milton, and 
Pope have been translated into the native tongue; 
one of the best printed newspapers I have ever 
seen is now published at Reykjavik ; and the 
Colleges of Copenhagen are adorned by many 
an illustrious Icelandic scholar : but the glory of 
the old days is departed, and it is across a wide, 
desolate flat of ignoble annals, as dull and arid 
as their own lava plains, that the student has to 
look back upon the glorious drama of Iceland's 
early history. As I gazed around on the silent, 
deserted plain, and paced to and fro along the 



100 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

untrodden grass that now clothed the Althing, I 
could scarcely believe it had ever been the battle- 
field where such keen and energetic wits encoun- 
tered, — that the fire-scathed rocks I saw before 
me were the very same that had once inspired 
one of the most successful rhetorical appeals ever 
hazarded in a public assembly. 

As an account of the debate to which I allude 
has been carefully preserved, I may as well give 
you an abstract of it. A more characteristic leaf 
out of the Parliamentary Annals of Iceland you 
could scarcely have. 

In the summer of the year 1000, when Ethel- 
red the Unready ruled in England, and fourteen 
years after Hugh Capet had succeeded the last 
Carlovingian on the throne of France, — the Ice- 
landic legislature was convened for the consider- 
ation of a very important subject — no less im- 
portant, indeed, than an inquiry into the merits 
of a new religion lately brought into the country 
by certain emissaries of Olaf Tryggveson, — the 
first Christian king of Norway, — and the same 
who pulled down London bridge. 

The assembly met. The Norse missionaries 
were called upon to enunciate to the house the 
tenets of the faith they were commissioned to 
disclose; and the debate began. Great and fierce 
was the difference of opinion. The good old 



A DEBATE, A. D. 1000. 101 

Tory party, supported by all the authority of the 
Odin establishment, were violent in opposition. 
The Whigs advocated the new arrangement, 
and, as the king supported their own views, 
insisted strongly on the Divine right. Several 
liberal members permitted themselves to speak 
sarcastically of the Valhalla tap, and the ankles 
of Freya. The discussion was at its height, 
when suddenly a fearful peal of subterranean 
thunder roared around the Althing. " Listen ! '' 
cried an orator of the Pagan party ; " how angry 
is Odin that we should even consider the subject 
of a new religion. His fires will consume us." 
To which a ready debater on the other side re- 
plied, by "begging leave to ask the honourable 
gentleman, — with whom were the Gods angry 
when these rocks were melted ? " — pointing to 
the devastated plain around him. Taking ad- 
vantage of so good a hit, the Treasury " whips " 
immediately called for a division ; and the Chris- 
tian religion was adopted by a large majority. 

The first Christian missionaries who came to 
Iceland, seem to have had a rather peculiar man- 
ner of enforcing the truths of the Gospel. Their 
leader was a person of the name of Thangbrand. 
Like the Protestant clergymen Queen Elizabeth 
despatched to convert Ireland, he was bundled 
over to Iceland principally because he was too 



102 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

disreputable to be allowed to live in Norway 
The old Chronicler gives a very quaint descrip- 
tion of him. " Thangbrand," he says, " was a 
passionate, ungovernable person, and a great 
man-slayer ; but a good scholar, and clever. 
Thorvald, and Veterlid the Scald, composed a 
lampoon against him ; but he killed them both 
outright. Thangbrand was two years in Ice- 
land, and was the death of three men before he 
left it." 

From the Althing we strolled over to the Al- 
manna Gja, visiting the Pool of Execution on our 
way. As I have already mentioned, a river from 
the plateau above leaps over the precipice into 
the bottom of the Gja, and flows for a certain 
distance between its walls. At the foot of the 
fall, the waters linger for a moment, in a dark, 
deep, brimming pool, hemmed in by a circle of 
ruined rocks ; to this pool, in ancient times, all 
women convicted of capital crimes were imme- 
diately taken, and drowned. Witchcraft seems 
to have been the principal weakness of ladies 
in those days, throughout the Scandinavian 
countries. For a long period, no disgrace was 
attached to its profession. Odin himself, we are 
expressly told, was a great adept, and always 
found himself very much exhausted at the end of 
his performance ; which leads me to think that, 



CHALLENGING JURYMEN. 103 

perhaps, he dabbled in electro-biology. At last, 
the advent of Christianity threw discredit on the 
practice ; severe punishments were denounced 
against all who indulged in it ; and, in the end, 
its mysteries became the monopoly of the Lap- 
landers. 

All criminals, men and women, were tried by 
juries; and that the accused had the power of 
challenging the jurymen empanelled to try them, 
appears from the following extract from the Book 
of Laws : " The judges shall go out on Wash- 
day, i. e. Saturday, and continue out for chal- 
lenges, until the sun comes on Thingvalla on the 
Lord's-day." And again, " The power of chal- 
lenging shall cease as soon as the sun can no 
longer be seen above the western brink of the 
chasm, from the Logberg." 

Turning aside from what, I dare say, was the 
scene of many an unrecorded tragedy, we de- 
scended the gorge of the Almanna Gja, towards 
the lake ; and . I took advantage of the oppor- 
tunity again to examine its marvellous construc- 
tion. The perpendicular walls of rock rose on 
either hand from the flat green sward that car- 
peted its bottom, pretty much as the waters of 
the Red Sea must have risen on each side of 
the fugitive Israelites. A blaze of light smote 
the face of one cliff, while the other lay in the 



104 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

deepest shadow ; and on the rugged surface of 
each might still be traced corresponding articu- 
lations, that once had dovetailed into each other, 
ere the igneous mass was rent asunder. So un- 
changed, so recent seemed the vestiges of this 
convulsion, that I felt as if I had been admitted 
to witness one of nature's grandest and most 
violent operations, almost in the very act of its 
execution. A walk of about twenty minutes 
brought us to the borders of the lake — a glorious 
expanse of water, fifteen miles long, by eight 
miles broad, occupying a basin formed by the 
same hills, which must also, I imagine, have 
arrested the further progress of the lava torrent. 
A lovelier scene I have seldom witnessed. In 
the foreground lay huge masses of rock and lava, 
tossed about like the ruins of a world, and 
washed by waters as bright and green as pol- 
ished malachite. Beyond, a bevy of distarlt 
mountains, robed by the transparent atmosphere 
in tints unknown to Europe, peeped over each 
other's shoulders into the silver mirror at their 
feet, while here and there from among their pur- 
ple ridges columns of white vapour rose like altar 
smoke toward the tranquil heaven. 

On returning home we found dinner waiting 
for us. I had invited the clergyman, and a Ger- 
man gentleman who was lodging with him, to 



A CATCHER OF GNATS. 105 

give us the pleasure of their company ; and in 
ten minutes we had all become the best of 
friends. It is true the conversation was carried 
on in rather a wild jargon, made up of six dif- 
ferent languages — Icelandic, English, German, 
Latin, Danish, French — but in spite of the diffi- 
culty with which he expressed himself, it was 
impossible not to be struck with the simple ear- 
nest character of my German convive. He was 
about five-and-twenty, a " doctor philosophies" 
and had come to Iceland to catch gnats. After 
having caught gnats in Iceland, he intended, he 
said, to spend some years in catching gnats in 
Spain — the privacy of Spanish gnats, as it ap- 
pears, not having been hitherto invaded. The 
truth is, my guest was an entomologist, and in 
the pursuit of the objects of his study, was evi- 
dently prepared to approach hardships and dan- 
ger with a serenity that would not have been 
unworthy of the apostle of a new religion. It 
was almost touching to hear him describe the 
intensity of his joy when perhaps days and nights 
of fruitless labours were at last rewarded by the 
discovery of some hitherto unknown little fly ; 
and it was with my whole heart that, at parting, 
I wished him success in his career, and the fame 
that so much conscientious labour merited. 
From my allusion to this last reward, however, 



106 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

he seemed almost to shrink, and, with a sincerity 
it was impossible to doubt, disclaimed as ignoble 
so poor a motive as a thirst for fame. He was 
one of those calm laborious minds seldom found 
but among the Teutonic race, that — pursuing 
day by day with single-minded energy some spe- 
cial object — live in a noble obscurity, and die at 
last content with the consciousness of having 
added one other stone to that tower of knowl- 
edge men are building up toward heaven, even 
though the world should never learn what strong 
and patient hands have placed it there. 

The next morning we started for the Geysers ; 
this time dividing the baggage-train, and sending 
on the cook in light marching order, with the 
materials for dinner. The weather still remained 
unclouded, and each mile we advanced disclosed 
some new wonder in the unearthly landscape. 
A three hours 5 ride brought us to the Rabna 
Gja, the eastern boundary of Thingvalla, and, 
winding up its rugged face, we took our last look 
over the lovely plain beneath us, and then man- 
fully set forward across the same kind of arid 
lava plateau as that which we had already trav- 
ersed before arriving at the Almanna Gja. But 
instead of the boundless immensity which had 
then so much disheartened us, the present pros- 
pect was terminated by a range of quaint parti- 



THE MYSTICAL PLAIN. 107 

coloured hills, which rose before us in such fan- 
tastic shapes that I could not take my eyes off 
them. I do not know whether it was the strong 
coffee or the invigorating air that stimulated my 
imagination ; but I certainly felt convinced I was 
coming to some mystical spot — out of space, out 
of time — where I should suddenly light upon a 
green-scaled griffin, or golden-haired princess, or 
other bonne fortune of the olden days. Certainly 
a more appropriate scene for such an encounter 
could not be conceived, than that which displayed 
itself, when we wheeled at last round the flank 
of the scorched ridge we had been approaching. 
A perfectly smooth grassy plain, about a league 
square, and shaped like a horseshoe, opened be- 
fore us, encompassed by bare cinder-like hills, 
that rose round — red, black, and yellow — in a 
hundred uncouth peaks of ash and slag. Not a 
vestige of vegetation relieved the aridity of their 
vitrified sides, while the verdant carpet at their 
feet only made the fire-moulded circle seem more 
weird and impassable. Had I had a trumpet 
and a lance, I should have blown a blast of defi- 
ance on the one, and having shaken the other 
toward the four corners of the world, would have 
calmly waited to see what next might betide. 
Three arrows shot bravely forward would have 
probably resulted in the discovery of a trap-door 



108 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

with an iron ring; but having neither trumpet, 
lance, nor arrow, we simply alighted and lunched; 
yet even then I could not help thinking how 
lucky it was that, not eating dates, we could not 
inadvertently fling their stones into the eye of 
any inquisitive genie who might be in the neigh- 
bourhood. 

After the usual hour's rest and change of 
horses, we galloped away to the other side of 
the plain, and, doubling the further horn of the 
semicircle, suddenly found ourselves in a district 
as unlike the cinder mountains we had quitted 
as they had differed from the volcanic scenery of 
the day before. On the left lay a long rampart 
of green hills, opening up every now and then 
into Scottish glens and gorges, while from their 
roots to the horizon stretched a vast breadth of 
meadow-land, watered by two or three rivers, 
that wound, and twisted, and coiled about, like 
blue serpents. Here and there, white volumes 
of vapour that rose in endless wreaths from the 
ground, told of mighty cauldrons at work beneath 
that moist cool verdant carpet ; while large sil- 
very lakes, and flat-topped isolated hills, relieved 
the monotony of the level land, and carried on 
the eye to where the three snowy peaks of Mount 
Hecla shone cold and clear against the sky. 

Of course it was rather tantalizing to pass so 



HECLA. 109 

near this famous burning mountain without hav- 
ing an opportunity of ascending it ; but the ex- 
pedition would have taken up too much time. 
In appearance Hecla differs very little from the 
innumerable other volcanic hills with which the 
island is studded. Its cone consists of a pyra- 
mid of stone and scoriae, rising to the height of 
about five thousand feet, and welded together 
by bands of molten matter which have issued 
from its sides. From a.d. 1004 to 1766 there 
have been twenty-three eruptions, occurring at 
intervals which have varied in duration from six 
to seventy-six years. The one of 1766 was re- 
markably violent. It commenced on the 5th of 
April by the appearance of a huge pillar of black 
sand, mounting slowly into the heavens, accom- 
panied by subterranean thunders, and all the 
other symptoms which precede volcanic disturb- 
ances. Then a coronet of flame encircled the 
crater, masses of red rock, pumice, and magnetic 
stones were flung out with tremendous violence 
to an incredible distance, and in such continuous 
multitudes as to resemble a swarm of bees clus- 
tering over the mountain. One boulder of pum- 
ice, six feet in circumference, was pitched twenty 
miles away; another of magnetic iron fell at a 
distance of fifteen. The surface of the earth was 
covered for a circuit of one hundred and fifty 

6 



110 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

miles, with a layer of sand four inches deep ; the 
air was so darkened by it, that at a place one 
hundred and forty miles off, white paper, held up 
at a little distance, could not be distinguished 
from black. The fishermen could not put to sea 
on account of the darkness, and the inhabitants 
of the Orkney islands were frightened out of their 
senses by showers of what they thought must be 
black snow. On the 9th of April, the lava began 
to overflow, and ran for five miles in a south- 
westerly direction, whilst, some days later, — in 
order that no element might be wanting to min- 
gle in this devil's charivari, — a vast column of 
water, like Robin Hood's second arrow, split up 
through the cinder pillar to the height of several 
hundred feet; the horror of the spectacle being 
further enhanced by an accompaniment of sub- 
terranean cannonading and dire reports, heard at 
a distance of fifty miles. 

Striking as all this must have been, it sinks 
into comparative tameness and insignificance, 
beside the infinitely more terrible phenomena 
which attended the eruption of another volcano, 
called Skapta Jokul. 

Of all countries in Europe, Iceland is the one 
which has been the most minutely mapped, not 
even excepting the ordnance survey of Ireland. 
The Danish Government seem to have had a 



SKAPTA. Ill 

hobby about it, and the result has been a chart 
so beautifully executed, that every little crevice, 
each mountain torrent, each flood of lava, is laid 
down with an accuracy perfectly astonishing. 
One huge blank, however, in the southwest cor- 
ner of this map of Iceland, mars the integrity of 
its almost microscopic delineations. To every 
other part of the island the engineer has suc- 
ceeded in penetrating; one vast space alone of 
about four hundred square miles has defied his 
investigation. Over the area occupied by the 
Skapta Jokul, amid its mountain-cradled fields 
of snow and icy ridges, no human foot has ever 
wandered. Yet it is from the bosom of this 
desert district that has descended the most fright- 
ful visitation ever known to have desolated the 
island. 

This event occurred in the year 1783. The 
preceding winter and spring had been unusually 
mild. Toward the end of May, a light bluish 
fog began to float along the confines of the un- 
trodden tracts of Skapta, accompanied in the 
beginning of June by a great trembling of the 
earth. On the 8th of that month, immense pil- 
lars of smoke collected over the hill country 
towards the north, and coming down against 
the wind in a southerly direction, enveloped the 
whole district of Sida in darkness. A whirlwind 



112 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

of ashes then swept over the face of the country, 
and on the 10th, innumerable fire spouts were 
seen leaping and flaring amid the icy hollows of 
the mountain, while the river Skapta, one of the 
largest in the island, having first rolled down to 
the plain a vast volume of fetid waters mixed 
with sand, suddenly disappeared. 

Two days afterwards a stream of lava, issuing 
from sources to which no one has ever been able 
to penetrate, came sliding down the bed of the 
dried up river, and in a little time, — though the 
channel was six hundred feet deep and two hun- 
dred broad, — the glowing deluge overflowed its 
banks, crossed the low country of Medalland, rip- 
ping the turf up before it like a tablecloth, and 
poured into a great lake, whose affrighted waters 
flew hissing and screaming into the air at the 
approach of the fiery intruder. Within a few 
more days the basin of the lake itself was com- 
pletely filled, and having separated into two 
streams, the unexhausted torrent again recom- 
menced its march; in one direction overflowing 
some ancient lava fields, — in the other, reentering 
the channel of the Skapta, and leaping down the 
lofty cataract of Stapafoss. But this was not all ; 
while one lava flood had chosen the Skapta for 
its bed, another, descending in a different direc- 
tion, was working like ruin within and on either 



CALAMITY. 113 

side the banks of the Hverfisfliot, rushing into 
the plain, by all accounts, with even greater fury 
and velocity. Whether the two issued from the 
same crater it is impossible to say, as the sources 
of both were far away within the heart of the 
unapproachable desert, and even the extent of the 
lava flow can only be measured from the spot 
where it entered the inhabited districts. The 
stream which flowed down Skapta is calculated 
to be about fifty miles in length by twelve or 
fifteen at its greatest breadth ; that which rolled 
down the Hverfisfliot, at forty miles in length by 
seven in breadth. Where it was imprisoned, 
between the high banks of Skapta, the lava is 
five or six hundred feet thick ; but as soon as it 
spread out into the plain its depth never exceeded 
one hundred feet. The eruption of sand, ashes, 
pumice, and lava, continued till the end of Au- 
gust, when the Plutonic drama concluded with a 
violent earthquake. 

For a whole year a canopy of cinder-laden 
cloud hung over the island. Sand and ashes 
irretrievably overwhelmed thousands of acres of 
fertile pasturage. The Faroe islands, the Shet- 
lands, and the Orkneys, were deluged with vol- 
canic dust, which perceptibly contaminated even 
the pure skies of England and Holland. Me- 
phitic vapours tainted the atmosphere of the 



114 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

entire island ; — even the grass, which no cinder 
rain had stifled, completely withered up ; — the 
fish perished in the poisoned sea. A murrain 
broke out among the cattle, and a disease resem- 
bling scurvy attacked the inhabitants themselves. 
Stephenson has calculated that 9,000 men, 28,- 
000 horses, 11,000 cattle, 190,000 sheep r died from 
the effects of this one eruption. The most 
moderate calculation puts the number of human 
deaths at upwards of 1,300 ; and of cattle, &c. 
at about 156,000. 

The whole of this century had proved most 
fatal to the unfortunate people of Iceland. At 
its commencement smallpox destroyed more than 
16,000 persons ; nearly 10,000 more perished by 
a famine consequent on a succession of inclem- 
ent seasons ; while from time to time the south- 
ern coasts were considerably depopulated by the 
incursions of English and even Algerine pirates. 

The rest of our day's journey lay through a 
country less interesting than the district we had 
traversed before luncheon. For the most part we 
kept on along the foot of the hills, stopping now 
and then for a drink of milk at the occasional 
farms perched upon their slopes. Sometimes 
turning up a green and even bushy glen, (there 
are no trees in Iceland, the nearest approach to 
any thing of the kind being a low dwarf birch, 



THE GEYSERS. 115 

hardly worthy of being called a shrub,) we would 
cut across the shoulder of some projecting spur, 
and obtain a wider prospect of the level land 
upon our right ; or else keeping more down in 
the flat, we had to flounder for half an hour up 
to the horse's shoulders in an Irish bog. After 
about five hours of this work we reached the 
banks of a broad and rather singular river, called 
the Bruara. Half-way across it was perfectly 
fordable ; but exactly in the middle was a deep 
cleft, into which the waters from either side spilt 
themselves, and then in a collected volume roared 
over a precipice a little lower down. Across this 
cleft some wooden planks were thrown, giving the 
traveller an opportunity of boasting that he had 
crossed a river on a bridge which itself was under 
water. By this time we had all begun to be very 
tired, and very hungry ; — it was eleven o'clock, 
p.m. We had been twelve or thirteen hours on 
horseback, not to mention occasional half hours 
of pretty severe walking after the ptarmigan and 
plover. Many were the questions we addressed 
to Sigurdr on the distance yet remaining, and 
many the conjectures we hazarded as to whether 
the cook would have arrived in time to get dinner 
ready for us. At last, after another two hours' 
weary jogging, we descried, straight in front, a 
low steep brown rugged hill, standing entirely 



116 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

detached from the range at the foot of which we 
had been riding; and in a few minutes more, 
wheeling round its outer end, we found ourselves 
in the presence of the steaming Geysers. 

I do not know that I can give you a better 
notion of the appearance of the place than by 
saying that it looked as if — for about a quarter of 
a mile — the ground had been honey-combed by 
disease into numerous sores and orifices ; not a 
blade of grass grew on its hot, inflamed surface, 
which consisted of unwholesome looking red 
livid clay, or crumpled shreds and shards of 
slough-like incrustations. Naturally enough, our 
first impulse on dismounting was to scamper off 
at once to the Great Geyser. As it lay at the 
furthest end of the congeries of hot springs, in 
order to reach it we had to run the gauntlet of 
all the pools of boiling water and scalding quag- 
mires of soft clay that intervened, and conse- 
quently arrived on the spot with our ancles nicely 
poulticed. But the occasion justified our eager- 
ness. A smooth silicious basin, seventy-two feet 
in diameter, and four feet deep, with a hole at 
the bottom as in a washing-basin on board a 
steamer, stood before us brimful of water just 
upon the simmer ; while up into the air above 
our heads rose a great column of vapour, looking 
as if it was going to turn into the Fisherman's 



HOW TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT. 117 

Genie. The ground about the brim was com- 
posed of layers of incrusted silica, like the out- 
side of an oyster, sloping gently down on all 
sides from the edge of the basin. 

Having satisfied our curiosity with this cursory 
inspection of what we had come so far to see, 
hunger compelled us to look about with great 
anxiety for the cook ; and you may fancy our 
delight at seeing that functionary in the very act 
of dishing up dinner on a neighbouring hillock. 
Sent forward at an early hour, under the chap- 
eronage of a guide, he had arrived about two 
hours before us, and seizing with a general's eye 
the key of the position, at once turned an idle 
babbling little Geyser into a camp-kettle, dug a 
bake-house in the hot soft clay, and improvising 
a kitchen-range at a neighbouring vent, had made 
himself completely master of the situation. It 
was about one o'clock in the morning when we 
sat down to dinner, and as light as day. 

As the baggage-train with our tents and beds 
had not yet arrived, we fully appreciated our luck 
in being treated to so dry a night ; and having 
eaten every thing we could lay hands on, were 
set quietly down to chess, and coffee brewed in 
Geyser water ; when suddenly it seemed as if 
beneath our very feet a quantity of subterraneous 
cannon were going off; the whole earth shook, 

6* 



118 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

and Sigurdr, starting to his feet, upset the chess- 
board (I was just beginning to get the best of 
the game), and flung off full speed toward the 
great basin. By the time we reached its brim, 
however, the noise had ceased, and all we could 
see was a slight movement in the centre, as if an 
angel had passed by and troubled the water. 
Irritated at this false alarm, we determined to 
revenge ourselves by going and tormenting the 
Strokr. Strokr — or the churn — you must know, is 
an unfortunate Geyser, with so little command 
over his temper and his stomach, that you can get 
a rise out of him whenever you like. All that is 
necessary is to collect a quantity of sods, and 
throw them down his funnel. As he has no basin 
to protect him from these liberties, you can ap- 
proach to the very edge of the pipe, about five 
feet in diameter, and look down at the boiling 
water which is perpetually seething at the bottom. 
In a few minutes the dose of turf you have just 
administered begins to disagree with him ; he 
works himself up into an awful passion — tor- 
mented by the qualms of incipient sickness, he 
groans and hisses, and boils up, and spits at you 
with malicious vehemence, until at last, with a 
roar of mingled pain and rage, he throws up into 
the air a column of water forty feet high, which 
carries with it all the sods that have been chucked 



AN IRRITABLE HOT SPRING. 119 

in, and scatters them scalded and half-digested at 
your feet. So irritated has the poor thing's stom- 
ach become by the discipline it has undergone, 
that even long after all foreign matter has been 
thrown off, it goes on retching and sputtering, 
until at last nature is exhausted, when sobbing 
and sighing to itself, it sinks back into the 
bottom of its den. __y 

Put into the highest spirits by the success of 
this performance, we turned away to examine the 
remaining springs. I do not know, however, that 
any of the rest are worthy of particular mention. 
They all resemble in character the two I have 
described, the only difference being, that they are 
infinitely smaller, and of much less power and 
importance. One other remarkable formation in 
the neighbourhood, must not be passed unno- 
ticed. Imagine a large, irregular opening in the 
surface of the soft, white clay, filled to the very 
brim with scalding water, perfectly still, and of 
as bright a blue as that of the Grotto Azzuro, at 
Capri, through whose transparent depths you can 
see down into the mouth of a vast subaqueous 
cavern, which runs, Heaven knows how far, in a 
horizontal direction beneath your feet. Its walls 
and varied cavities really looked as if they were 
built of the purest lapis lazuli — and so thin 
seemed the crust that roofed it in, we almost 



120 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

fancied it might break through, and tumble us all 
into the fearful, beautiful bath. 

Having, by this time, taken a pretty good look 
at the principal features of our new domain, I 
wrapped myself up in a cloak and went to sleep ; 
leaving orders that I should not be called until 
after the tent had arrived, and our beds were 
ready. Sigurdr followed my example, but the 
Doctor went out shooting. 

As our principal object, in coming so far, was 
to see an eruption of the great Geyser, it was, of 
course, necessary we should wait his pleasure ; in 
fact, our movements entirely depended upon his. 
For the next two or three days, therefore, like 
pilgrims round some ancient shrine, we patiently 
kept watch ; but he scarcely deigned to vouch- 
safe us the slightest manifestation of his latent 
energies. Two or three times the cannonading 
we had heard immediately after our arrival, re- 
commenced, — and once an eruption to the height 
of about ten feet occurred ; but so brief was its 
duration, that by the time we were on the spot, 
although the tent was not eighty yards distant, 
all was over. As after every effort of the foun- 
tain, the water in the basin mysteriously ebbs 
back into the funnel, this performance, though 
unsatisfactory in itself, gave' us an opportunity of 
approaching the mouth of the pipe, and looking 



LIFE " AL FRESCO." 121 

down into its scalded gullet. In an hour after- 
wards, the basin was brimful as ever. 

Tethered down by our curiosity to a particular 
spot for an indefinite period, we had to while 
away the hours as best we could. We played 
chess, collected specimens, photographed the en- 
campment, the guides, the ponies, and one or 
two astonished natives. Every now and then 
we went out shooting over the neighbouring 
flats, and once I ventured on a longer expedition 
among the mountains to our left. The views I 
got were beautiful, — ridge rising beyond ridge in 
eternal silence, like gigantic ocean waves, whose 
tumult has been suddenly frozen into stone ; — 
but the dread of the Geyser going off during my 
absence, made me almost too fidgety to enjoy 
them. The weather, luckily, remained beautiful, 
with the exception of one little spell of rain, 
which came to make us all the more grateful for 
the sunshine, — and we fed like princes. Inde- 
pendently of the game, duck, plover, ptarmigan, 
and bittern, with which our own guns supplied 
us, a young lamb was always in the larder, — not 
to mention reindeer tongues, skier, — a kind of 
sour curds, excellent when well made, — milk, 
cheese, whose taste and nature baffles description, 
biscuit and bread, sent us as a free gift by the 
lady of a neighbouring farm. In fact, so noble 



122 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

is Icelandic hospitality, that I really believe there 
was nothing within fifty miles round we might 
not have obtained for the asking, had we desired 
it. As for Fitz, he became quite the enfant gdte 
of a neighbouring family. 

Having unluckily caught cold, instead of sleep- 
ing in the tent, he determined to seek shelter 
under a solid roof-tree, and, conducted by our 
guide Olaf, set off on his pony at bedtime in 
search of an habitation. The next morning he 
reappeared so unusually radiant, that I could 
not help inquiring what good fortune had in the 
mean time befallen him; upon which he gave me 
such an account of his last night's reception at 
the farm, that I was almost tempted to bundle 
tent and beds down the throat of our irritable 
friend Strokr, and throw myself for the future 
upon the hospitality of the inhabitants. It is 
true, I had read in Van Troil of something of 
the kind, but until now I never fully believed it. 
The Doctor shall tell his own history. 

" No sooner," said he, " had I presented my- 
self at the door, and made known my errand, 
than I was immediately welcomed by the whole 
family, and triumphantly inducted into the guest 
quarters ; every thing the house could produce 
was set before me, and the whole society stood 
by to see that I enjoyed myself. As I had but 



THE doctor's adventure. 128 

just dined, an additional repast was no longer 
essential to my happiness ; but all explanation 
was useless, and I did my best to give them 
satisfaction. Immediately on rising from the 
table, the young lady of the house — (old Van 
Troil says it is either the mother or the daughter 
of the house, if she be grown up, who performs 
this office) — proposed, by signs, to conduct me to 
my apartment ; taking in one hand a large plate 
of skier, and in the other a bottle of brandy, she 
led the way through a passage built of turf and 
stones, to the place where I was to sleep. Hav- 
ing watched her deposit — not without misgivings, 
for I knew it was expected both should be dis- 
posed of before morning — the skier by my bed- 
side, and the brandy-bottle under the pillow, I 
was preparing to make her a polite bow, and to 
wish her a very good night, when she advanced 
towards me, and with a winning grace difficult 
to resist, insisted upon helping me off with my 
coat, and then, — proceeding to extremities, — with 
my shoes and stockings. At this most critical 
part of the proceedings, I naturally imagined her 
share of the performance would conclude, and 
that I should at last be restored to that privacy 
which at such seasons is generally considered 
appropriate. Not a bit of it. Before I knew 
where I was, I found myself sitting on a chair, 



124 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

in my shirt, trowserless, while my fair tirewoman 
was engaged in neatly folding up the ravished 
garments on a neighbouring chair. She then, in 
the most simple manner in the world, helped me 
into bed, tucked me up, and having said a quan- 
tity of pretty things in Icelandic, gave me a 
hearty kiss, and departed. If," he added, " you 
see any thing remarkable in my appearance, it is, 
probably, because — 

' This very morn I've felt the sweet surprise 
Of unexpected lips on sealed eyes;' " 

by which he poetically intimated the pleasing 
ceremony which had awaked him to the duties 
of the day. I think it needless to subjoin that 
the Doctors cold did not get better as long as 
we remained in the neighbourhood, and that had 
it not been for the daily increasing fire of his 
looks, I should have begun to be alarmed at so 
protracted an indisposition. 

We had now been keeping watch for three 
days over the Geyser in languid expectation of 
the eruption which was to set us free. All the 
morning of the fourth day I had been playing 
chess with Sigurdr ; Fitzgerald was photograph- 
ing, Wilson was in the act of announcing lunch- 
eon, when a cry from the guides made us start 
to our feet, and with one common impulse rush 
towards the basin. The usual subterranean thun- 



" THE BOUQUET " OF WATERWORKS. 125 

ders had already commenced. A violent agitation 
was disturbing the centre of the pool. Suddenly 
a dome of water lifted itself up to the height of 
eight or ten feet, — then burst, and fell; imme- 
diately after which a shining liquid column, or 
rather a sheaf of columns wreathed in robes of 
vapour, sprung into the air, and in a succession 
of jerking leaps, each higher than the last, flung 
their silver crests against the sky. For a few 
minutes the fountain held its own, then all at 
once appeared to lose its ascending energy. The 
unstable waters faltered, — drooped, — fell, "like 
a broken purpose," back upon themselves, and 
were immediately sucked down into the recesses 
of their pipe. 

The spectacle was certainly magnificent ; but 
no description can give any idea of its most 
striking features. The enormous wealth of 
water, its vitality, its hidden power, — the illim- 
itable breadth of sunlit vapour, rolling out in 
exhaustless profusion, — all combined to make 
one feel the stupendous energy of nature's 
slightest movements. 

And yet I do not believe the exhibition was 
so fine as some that have been seen ; from the 
first burst upwards, to the moment the last jet 
retreated into the pipe, was no more than a space 
of seven or eight minutes, and at no moment did 



126 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

the crown of the column reach higher than sixty 
or seventy feet above the surface of the basin. 
Now, early travellers talk of three hundred feet, 
which must, of course, be fabulous ; but many 
trustworthy persons have judged the eruptions 
at two hundred feet, while well-authenticated 
accounts — when the elevation of the jet has 
been actually measured — make it to have at- 
tained a height of upwards of one hundred feet. 
With regard to the internal machinery by 
which these waterworks are set in motion, I will 
only say that the most received theory seems to 
"be that which supposes the existence of a cham- 
ber in the heated earth, almost, but not quite, 
filled with water, and communicating with the 
upper air by means of a pipe, whose lower orifice, 
instead of being in the roof, is at the side of the 
cavern, and below the surface of the subterranean 
pond. The water kept by the surrounding fur- 
naces at boiling point, generates of course a 
continuous supply of steam, for which some vent 
must be obtained ; as it cannot escape by the 
funnel, — the lower mouth of which is under 
water, — it squeezes itself up within the arching 
roof, — until at last, compressed beyond all en- 
durance, it strains against the rock, and pushing 
down the intervening waters with its broad, 
strong back, forces them below the level of the 



A BUBBLE THEORY. 127 

funnel, and dispersing part, and driving part 
before it, rushes forth in triumph to the upper 
air. The fountains, therefore, that we see mount- 
ing to the sky during an eruption, are nothing 
but the superincumbent mass of waters in the 
pipe driven up in confusion before the steam at 
the moment it obtains its liberation.* 

The last gulp of water had disappeared down 
the funnel. We were standing at the bottom of 
the now empty basin, gazing into each other's 
faces with joyous astonishment, when suddenly 
we perceived a horseman come franticly galloping 
round the base of the neighbouring hill towards 
us. The state of the case was only too evident. 

* Professor Bunsen has lately announced a chemical the- 
ory, which, I believe, has been received with favour by the 
scientific world. He points to the fact that water, after being 
long subjected to heat, loses much of the air contained in it, 
has the cohesion of its molecules much increased, and requires 
a higher temperature to bring it to the boil ; at which moment 
the production of vapour becomes so great, and so instanta- 
neous, as to cause explosion. The bursting of furnace boilers 
is often attributable to this cause. Now, the water at the bot- 
tom of the well of the Great Geyser is found to be of con- 
stantly increasing temperature up to the moment of an erup- 
tion, when on one occasion it was as high as 261° Fahrenheit. 
Professor Bunsen's idea is, that on reaching some unknown 
point above that temperature, ebullition takes place, vapour is 
suddenly generated in enormous quantity, and an eruption of 
the superior column of water is the consequence. 



128 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

He had seen the masses of vapour rising round 
the fountain, and guessing " what was up" had 
strained every nerve to arrive in time. As there 
was no mutual friend present to introduce us to 
each other, — of course under ordinary circum- 
stances I should have wrapped myself in that 
reserve which is the birthright of every Briton, 
and pretended never even to have noticed his 
arrival ; but the sight we had just seen had quite 
upset my nerves, — and I confess, with shame, 
that I so far compromised myself, as to inau- 
gurate a conversation with the stranger. In ex- 
tenuation of my conduct, I must be allowed to 
add, that the new-comer was not a fellow-coun- 
tryman, but of the French tongue, and of the 
naval profession. 

Occupying then the door of my tent — by way 
of vantage ground, as soon as the stranger was 
come within earshot, I lifted up my voice, and 
cried in a style of Arabian familiarity, u O thou 
that ridest so furiously, — weary and disappointed 
one, — turn in, I pray thee, into the tent of thy 
servant, and eat bread, and drink wine, that thy 
soul may be comforted." To which he answered 
and said, " Man, — dweller in sulphureous places, 
— I will not eat bread, nor drink wine, neither 
will I enter into thy tent, until I have measured 
out a resting-place for my Lord the Prince." 



HOSPITABLE PREPARATIONS. 129 

At this interesting moment our acquaintance 
was interrupted by the appearance of two other 
horsemen — the one a painter, the other a geolo- 
gist — attached to the expedition of Prince Napo- 
leon. They informed us that His Imperial High- 
ness had reached Reykjavik two days after we 
had left, that he had encamped last night at 
Thingvalla, and might be expected here in about 
four hours ; they themselves having come on in 
advance to prepare for his arrival. My first care 
was to order coffee for the tired Frenchmen ; and 
then — feeling that long residence having given 
us a kind of proprietorship in the Geysers, we 
were bound to do the honours of the place to the 
approaching band of travellers — I summoned the 
cook, and enlarging in a long speech on the grav- 
ity of the occasion, gave orders that he should 
make a holocaust of all the remaining game, 
and get under way a plum-pudding, whose di- 
mensions should do himself and England credit. 
A long table having been erected within the tent, 
Sigurdr started on a plundering expedition to the 
neighbouring farm, Fitzgerald undertook the or- 
dering of the feast, while I rode on my pony 
across the morass, in hopes of being able to shoot 
a few additional plover. In a couple of hours 
afterwards, just as I was stalking a duck that lay 
innocently basking on the bosom of the river, a 



180 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

cloud of horsemen swept round the base of the 
distant mountain, and returning home, I found 
the encampment I had left so deserted — alive and 
populous with as merry a group of Frenchmen 
as it might ever be one's fortune to fall in with. 
Of course they were dressed in every variety of 
costumes, long boots, picturesque brigand-looking 
hats, with here and there a sprinkling of Scotch 
caps from Aberdeen ; but — whatever might be 
the head-dress, underneath you might be sure to 
find a kindly, cheery face. My old friend Count 
Trampe, who had accompanied the expedition, 
at once presented me to the Prince, who was 
engaged in sounding the depth of the pipe of the 
Great Geyser, — and encouraged by the gracious 
reception which His Imperial Highness accorded 
me, I ventured to inform him that " there was a 
poor banquet toward," of which I trusted he — 
and as many of his officers as the table could 
hold, would condescend to partake. After a lit- 
tle hesitation, caused, I presume, by fear of our 
being put to inconvenience, — he was kind enough 
to signify his acceptance of my proposal, and in 
a few minutes afterwards, with a cordial frank- 
ness I fully appreciated, allowed me to have the 
satisfaction of receiving him as a guest within 
my tent. 

Although I never had the pleasure of seeing 



A BANQUET IN DESERTO. 131 

Prince Napoleon before, I should have known 
him among a thousand, from his remarkable like- 
ness to his uncle, the first Emperor. A stronger 
resemblance, I conceive, could scarcely exist be- 
tween two persons. The same delicate, sharply- 
cut features, thin refined mouth, and firm deter- 
mined jaw. The Prince's frame, however, is built 
altogether on a larger scale, and his eyes — in- 
stead of being of a cold piercing blue — are soft 
and brown, with quite a different expression. 

Though of course a little Barmicidal, the din- 
ner went off very well, as every dinner must 
do where such merry companions are the con- 
vives. We had some difficulty about stowing 
away the legs of a tali philosopher, and to each 
knife — three individuals were told off; but the 
birds were not badly cooked, and the plum-pud- 
ding arrived in time to convert a questionable 
success into an undoubted triumph. 

On rising from table, each one strolled away in 
whatever direction his particular taste suggested. 
The painter to sketch ; the geologist to break 
stones ; the philosopher to moralize, I presume, — 
at least, he lighted a cigar, — and the rest to 
superintend the erection of the tents which had 
just arrived. 

In an hour afterwards, sleep — though not al- 
together silence — for loud and strong rose the 



132 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

choral service, intoned to Morpheus from every 
side — reigned supreme over the encampment, 
whose canvas habitations, huddled together on the 
desolate plateau, looked almost Crimean. This 
last notion, I suppose, must have mingled with 
my dreams, for not long afterwards I found my- 
self in full swing towards a Russian battery, that 
banged and bellowed, and cannonaded about my 
ears in a fashion frightful to hear. Apparently I 
was serving in the French attack, for clear and 
shrill above the tempest rose the cry, " Alerte ! 
alerte ! aux armes, Monseigneur ! aux armes ! " 
The ground shook, volumes of smoke rose before 
my eyes, and completely hid the defences of Se- 
bastopol; which fact, on reflection, I perceived 
to be the less extraordinary, as I was standing in 
my shirt at the door of a tent in Iceland. The 
premonitory symptoms of an eruption, which I 
had taken for a Russian cannonading, had awak- 
ened the French sleepers, — a universal cry was 
pervading the encampment, — and the entire set- 
tlement had turned out — chiefly in bare legs — to 
witness the event which the reverberating earth 
and steaming water seemed to prognosticate. Old 
Geyser, however, proved less courteous than we 
had begun to hope, for after labouring uneasily in 
his basin for a few minutes, he roused himself on 
his hind legs — fell — made one more effort, — and 



NO EFFECT. 133 

then giving it up as a bad job, sank back into his 
accustomed inaction, and left the disappointed 
assembly to disperse to their respective dormito- 
ries. 

The next morning, the whole encampment was 
stirring at an early hour with preparations for 
departure ; for unsatisfactory as it had been, the 
French considered themselves absolved by the 
partial performance they had witnessed, from any 
longer u making antechamber," as they said, to 
so capricious a functionary. Being very anxious 
to have one more trial at photographing Strokr, I 
ventured to suggest that the necessary bolus of 
sods should be administered to him. In a few 
minutes two or three cart-loads of turf were 
seething and wallowing within him. In the 
mean time, Fitz seized the opportunity of the 
Prince being at breakfast, to do a picture of him 
seated on a chair, with his staff standing around 
him, and looking the image of Napoleon before 
the battle of Austerlitz. A good twenty min- 
utes had now elapsed since the emetic had been 
given, — no symptoms of any result had as yet 
appeared, — and the French began to get impa- 
tient; innuendoes were hazarded to the disad- 
vantage of Strokr's reputation for consistency, — 
innuendoes which I confess touched me nearly, 
and made me feel like a showman whose dog 



134 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

has misbehaved. At last the whole party rode 
off; but the rear horseman had not disappeared 
round the neighbouring hill, before — splash ! bang ! 
— fifty feet up into the air drove the dilatory 
fountain, with a fury which amply avenged the 
affront put upon it, and more than vindicated my 
good opinion. All our endeavours, however, to 
photograph the eruption proved abortive. We 
had already attempted both Strokr and the Great 
Geyser, but in the case of the latter the exhibi- 
tion was always concluded before the plate could 
be got ready ; and although, as far as Strokr is 
concerned, you can tell within a certain period 
when the performance will take place, yet the 
interval occurring between the dose and the ex- 
plosion varies so capriciously, that unless you are 
content to spend many days upon the spot, it 
would be almost impossible to hit it off exactly. 
On this last occasion, — although we did not pre- 
pare the plate until a good twenty minutes after 
the turf was thrown in, — the spring remained 
inactive so much longer than is usual, that the 
collodion became quite insensitive, and the erup- 
tion left no impression whatever upon it. 

Of our return journey to Reykjavik, I think I 
have no very interesting particulars to give you. 
During the early part of the morning there had 
been a slight threatening of rain ; but by twelve 



CHANGE. 135 

o'clock it had settled down into one of those still 
dark days, which wrap even the most familiar 
landscape in a mantle of mystery. A heavy, low- 
hung, steel-coloured pall was stretched almost 
entirely across the heavens, except where along 
the flat horizon a broad stripe of opal atmosphere 
let the eye wander into space, in search of the 
pearly gateways of Paradise. On the other side 
rose the contorted lava mountains, their bleak 
heads knocking against the solid sky and stained 
of an inky blackness, which changed into a still 
more lurid tint where the local reds struggled up 
through the shadow that lay brooding over the 
desolate scene. If within the domain of nature 
such another region is to be found, it can only be 
in the heart of those awful solitudes which science 
has unveiled to us amid the untrodden fastnesses 
of the lunar mountains. An hour before reach- 
ing our old camping-ground at Thingvalla, as if 
summoned by enchantment — a dull gray mist 
closed around us, and suddenly confounded in 
undistinguishable ruin the glory and the terror of 
the panorama we had traversed : sky, mountains, 
horizon, all had disappeared ; and as we strained 
our eyes from the edge of the Rabna Gja across 
the monotonous gray level at our feet, it was 
almost difficult to believe that there lay the same 



136 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

magical plain, the first sight of which had be- 
come almost an epoch in our lives. 

I had sent on cook, baggage, and guides, some 
hours before we ourselves started, so that on our 
arrival we found a dry, cosy tent, and a warm 
dinner awaiting us. The rapid transformation 
of the aspect of the country, which I had just 
witnessed, made me quite understand how com- 
pletely the success of an expedition in Ice- 
land must depend on the weather, and fully ac- 
counted for the difference I had observed in the 
amount of enjoyment different travellers seemed 
to have derived from it. It is one thing to ride 
forty miles a-day through the most singular 
scenery in the world, when a radiant sun brings 
out every feature of the country into startling 
distinctness, transmuting the dull tormented earth 
into towers, domes, and pinnacles of gleaming 
metal, — and weaves for every distant summit a 
robe of variegated light, such as the " Delectable 
Mountains " must have worn for the rapt gaze of 
weary " Christian ; " — and another to plod over 
the same forty miles, drenched to the skin, seeing 
nothing but the dim, gray roots of hills, that rise 
you know not how, and you care not where, — 
with no better employment than to look at your 
watch, and wonder when you shall reach your 
journey's end. If, in addition to this, you have to 



THE GOLD AND SILVER SHIELD ! 137 

wait, as very often must be the case, for many 
hours after your own arrival, wet, tired, hungry, 
until the baggage-train, with the tents and food, 
shall have come up, with no alternative in the 
mean time but to lie shivering inside a grass- 
roofed church, or to share the quarters of some 
farmer's family, whose domestic arrangements 
resemble in every particular those which Macau- 
lay describes as prevailing among the Scottish 
Highlanders a hundred years ago ; and if, finally 
— after vainly waiting for some days to see an 
eruption which never takes place — you journey 
back to Reykjavik under the same melancholy 
conditions, — it will not be unnatural that on 
returning to your native land, you should pro- 
claim Iceland, with her Geysers, to be a sham, 
a delusion, and a snare ! 

Fortune, however, seemed determined that of 
these bitternesses we should not taste ; for the 
next morning, bright and joyous overhead bent 
the blue unclouded heaven; while the plain lay 
gleaming at our feet in all the brilliancy of 
enamel. I was sorely tempted to linger another 
day in the neighbourhood ; but we have already 
spent more time upon the Geysers than I had 
counted upon, and it will not do to remain in 
Iceland longer than the 15th, or Winter will have 
begun to barricade the passes into his Arctic 



138 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

dominions. My plan, on returning to Reykjavik, 
is to send the schooner round to wait for us in a 
harbour on the north coast of the island, while 
we ourselves strike straight across the interior on 
horseback. 

The scenery, I am told, is magnificent. On 
the way we shall pass many a little nook, shut 
up among the hills, that has been consecrated by 
some touching old-world story ; and the manner 
of life among the northern inhabitants is — I be- 
lieve, more unchanged and characteristic than 
that of any other of the islanders. Moreover, 
scarcely any stranger has ever penetrated to any 
distance in this direction ; and we shall have an 
opportunity of traversing a slice of that tremen- 
dous desert — piled up for thirty thousand square 
miles in disordered pyramids of ice and lava 
over the centre of the country, and periodically 
devastated by deluges of molten stone and boil- 
ing mud, or overwhelmed with whirlwinds of 
intermingled snow and cinders, — an unfinished 
corner of the universe, where the elements of 
chaos are still allowed to rage with unbridled 
fury. 

Our last stage from Thingvalla back to Reyk- 
javik was got over very quickly, and seemed an 
infinitely shorter distance than when we first per- 
formed it. We met a number of farmers return- 



EASTERN ASSOCIATIONS. 139 

ing to their homes from a kind of fair that is 
annually held in the little metropolis ; and as I 
watched the long caravan-like line of pack-horses 
and horsemen, wearily plodding over the stony 
waste in single file, I found it less difficult to 
believe that these remote islanders should be 
descended from Oriental forefathers. In fact, 
one is constantly reminded of the East in Ice- 
land. From the earliest ages the Icelanders 
have been a people dwelling in tents. In the 
time of the ancient Parliament, the legislators, 
during the entire session, lay encamped in mov- 
able booths around the place of meeting. Their 
domestic polity is naturally patriarchal, and the 
flight of their ancestors from Norway was a pro- 
test against the antagonistic principle of feudal- 
ism. No Arab could be prouder of his courser 
than they are of their little ponies, or reverence 
more deeply the sacred rights of hospitality; 
while the solemn salutation exchanged between 
two companies of travellers, passing each other 
in the desert — as they invariably call the unin- 
habited part of the country — would not have 
misbecome the stately courtesy of the most an- 
cient worshippers of the sun. 

Any thing more multifarious than the lading 
of these caravans we met returning to the inland 
districts cannot well be conceived: deal boards, 



140 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

rope, kegs of brandy, sacks of rye or wheaten 
flour, salt, soap, sugar, snuff, tobacco, coffee; 
every thing, in fact, which was necessary to their 
domestic consumption during the ensuing winter. 
In exchange for these commodities, which of 
course they are obliged to get from Europe, the 
Icelanders export raw wool, knitted stockings, 
mittens, cured cod, and fish oil, whale blubber, 
fox skins, eider-down, feathers, and Icelandic 
moss. During the last few years the exports of 
the island have amounted to about 1,200,000 lbs. 
of wool and 500,000 pairs of stockings and mit- 
tens. Although Iceland is one fifth larger than 
Ireland, its population consists of only about 
60,000 persons, scattered along the habitable ring 
which runs round between the central desert and 
the sea; of the whole area of 38,000 square 
miles, it is calculated that not more than one 
eighth part is occupied, the remaining 33,000 
square miles consisting of naked mountains of 
ice, or valleys desolated by lava or volcanic ashes. 
Even Reykjavik itself cannot boast of more than 
700 or 800 inhabitants. 

During winter time the men are chiefly em- 
ployed in tending cattle, picking wool, manufac- 
turing ropes, bridles, saddles, and building boats. 
The fishing season commences in spring; in 1853 
there were as many as 3,500 boats engaged upon 



STATISTICS. 141 

the water. As summer advances — turf-cutting 
and hay-making begins ; while the autumn 
months are principally devoted to the repairing 
of their houses, manuring the grass lands, and 
killing and curing of sheep for exportation, as 
well as for their own use during the winter. 
The woman-kind of a family occupy themselves 
throughout the year in washing, carding, and 
spinning wool, in knitting gloves and stockings, 
and in weaving frieze and flannel for their own 
wear. 

The ordinary food of a well-to-do Icelandic 
family consists of dried fish, butter, sour whey 
kept till fermentation takes place, curds, and 
skier — a very peculiar cheese unlike any I ever 
tasted, a little mutton, and rye bread. As might 
be expected, this meagre fare is not very condu- 
cive to health ; scurvy, leprosy, elephantiasis, and 
all cutaneous disorders, are very common, while 
the practice of mothers to leave off nursing their 
children at the end of three days, feeding them 
with cows' milk instead, results in a frightful 
mortality among the babies. 

Land is held either in fee-simple, or let by the 
Crown to tenants on what may almost be con- 
sidered perpetual leases. The rent is calculated 
partly on the number of acres occupied, partly 
on the head of cattle the farm is fit to support, 

7* 



142 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

and is paid in kind, either in fish or farm pro- 
duce. Tenants in easy circumstances generally 
employ two or three labourers, who in addition 
to their board and lodging — receive from ten to 
twelve dollars a year of wages. No property 
can be entailed, and if any one dies intestate, 
what he leaves is distributed among his children 
— in equal shares to the sons, in half shares to 
the daughters. 

The public revenue arising from Crown lands, 
commercial charges, and a small tax on the trans- 
ference of property, amounts to about 3,000/. ; the 
expenditure for education, officers' salaries (the 
Governor has about 400Z. a-year), ecclesiastical 
establishments, &c. exceeds 6,000/. a-year ; so 
that the island is certainly not a self-supporting 
institution. 

The clergy are paid by tithes ; their stipends 
are exceedingly small, generally not averaging 
more than six or seven pounds sterling per an- 
num ; their chief dependence being upon their 
farms. Like St. Dunstan, they are invariably 
excellent blacksmiths. 

As we approached Reykjavik, for the first time 
during the whole journey we began to have some 
little trouble with the relay of ponies in front. 
Whether it was that they were tired, or that they 
had arrived in a district where they had been ac- 



A STRIKE AMONG THE PONIES. 143 

customed to roam at large, I cannot tell; but 
every ten minutes, during the last six or seven 
miles, one or other of them kept starting aside 
into the rocky plain, across which the narrow 
bridle-road was carried, and cost us many a 
weary chase before we could drive them into the 
track again. At last, though not till I had been 
violently hugged, kissed, and nearly pulled off my 
horse by an enthusiastic and rather tipsy farmer, 
who mistook me for the Prince, we galloped, 
about five o'clock, triumphantly into the town, 
without an accident having occurred to man or 
horse during the whole course of the expedition 
— always excepting one tremendous fall sus- 
tained by Wilson. It was on the evening of the 
day we left the Geysers. We were all galloping 
in single file down the lava pathway, when sud- 
denly I heard a cry behind me, and then the 
noise as of a descending avalanche. On turning 
round, behold ! both Wilson and his pony lay 
stretched upon the ground, the first some yards 
in advance of the other. The poor fellow evi- 
dently thought he was killed ; for he neither 
spoke nor stirred, but lay looking up at me with 
blank, beady eyes as I approached to his assist- 
ance. On further investigation, neither of the 
sufferers proved to be a bit the worse. 

The cook, and the rest of the party, did not 



144 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

arrive till about midnight ; but I make no doubt 
that when that able and spirited individual did 
at length reascend the side of the schooner, his 
cheek must have burned with pride at the reflec- 
tion, that during the short period of his absence 
on shore he had added to his other accomplish- 
ments that of becoming a most finished cavalier. 
I do not mean by that to imply that he was at 
all done. Although we had enjoyed our trip so 
much, I was not sorry to find myself on board. 
The descent again, after our gipsy life, into the 
coquettish little cabin, with its books and dear 
home faces, quite penetrated me with that feel- 
ing of snug content of which I believe English- 
men alone are susceptible. 

I have now to relate to you a most painful 
occurrence which has taken place during my 
absence at the Geysers ; — no less a catastrophe, 
in fact, than a mutiny among my hitherto most 
exemplary ship's company. I suppose, they, too, 
had occasion to bear witness to the proverbial 
hospitality of Iceland ; salt junk, and the innoc- 
uous cates which generally compose ship-board 
rations, could never have produced such an em- 
ergency. Suffice it to say, that " Dyspepsia and 
her fatal train " having taken hold of them, in a 
desperate hour they determined on a desperate 
deed, — and rushing aft in a body, demanded of 



A MUTINY. 145 

my faithful steward, not only access to the pene- 
tralia of the absent Doctor's cupboard, but that 
he himself should administer to them whatever 
medicaments he could come by. In vain Mr. 
Grant threw himself across the cabin-door. Re- 
monstrance was useless ; my horny-handed lambs 
were inexorable — unless he acceded to their de- 
mands, they threatened to report him when I 
returned ! The Doctor's sanctuary was thrown 
open, and all its sweets — if such they may be 
called — were rifled. A huge box of pills, the first 
that came to hand — they happened to be calomel 
— was served out, share and share alike, with 
concomitant vials of wrath, of rhubarb and 
senna ; and it was not until the last drop of 
castor oil had been carefully licked up, that the 
marauders suffered their unwilling accomplice to 
retire to the fastnesses of his pantry. 

An avenging Nemesis, however, hovered over 
the violated shrine of Esculapius. By the time 
I returned, the exigencies of justice had been 
more than satisfied, and the outrage already 
atoned for. The rebellious hands were become 
most penitent stomachs ; and fresh from the 
Oriental associations suggested by our last day's 
ride, I involuntarily dismissed the disconsolate 
culprits, with the Asiatic form of condonation : 
" Mashallah, you have made your faces white ! 
Go in peace ! " 



146 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

During our expedition to the interior, the har- 
bour of Reykjavik had become populous with 
new arrivals. First of all, there was my old 
friend, The Heine Hortense, the Emperor's yacht, 
a magnificent screw corvette of 1,100 tons. I 
had last parted with her three years ago in the 
Baltic, after she had towed me for 80 miles on 
our way from Bomarsund to Stockholm. Then 
there were two English screw steamers, of about 
700 tons each, taken up by the French Govern- 
ment as tenders to the yacht ; not to mention a 
Spanish brig, and one or two other foreigners, 
which, together with the frigate, the barque, and 
the vessels we had found here on our first arrival, 
made the usually deserted bay look quite lively. 
Until this year, no steamers had ever cockneyfied 
its secluded waters. 

This morning, directly after breakfast, I went 
on board The Heine Hortense to pay my respects - 
to Prince Napoleon; and H. I. H. has just done 
me the honour of coming to inspect The Foam. 
When I was first presented to him at the Gey- 
sers, he asked me what my plans might be ; and 
on my mentioning my resolution of sailing to 
the North, he most kindly proposed that I should 
come with him West to Greenland instead. My 
anxiety, however, to reach, if it were possible, 
Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen, prevented my ac- 



LA REINE HORTENSE. 147 

cepting this most tempting offer; but in the mean 
time, H. I. H. has, it seems, himself determined 
to come to Jan Mayen, and he is kind enough to 
say that if I can get ready for a start by six 
o'clock to-morrow morning, The Heine Hortense 
shall take me in tow. To profit by this proposal 
would of course entail the giving up my plan 
of riding across the interior of Iceland, which I 
should be very loth to do ; at the same time, the 
season is so far advanced, the mischances of our 
first start from England have thrown us so far 
behind in our programme, that it would seem 
almost a pity to neglect such an opportunity of 
overrunning the time that has been lost; and 
after all, these Polar islands, which so few have 
visited, are what I am chiefly bent on seeing. 
Before I close this letter the thing will have been 
settled one way or another ; for I am to have the 
honour of dining with the Prince this evening, 
and between this and then I shall have made up 
my mind. After dinner there is to be a ball on 
board the frigate, to which all the rank, fashion, 
and beauty of Reykjavik have been invited. 

3 A, M. 

I give up seeing the rest of Iceland, and go 
north at once. It has cost me a struggle to come 
to this conclusion, but on the whole I think it 
will be better. Ten or fifteen days of summer- 



148 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

time become very precious in these latitudes, and 
are worth a sacrifice. At this moment we have 
just brought up astern of The Reine Hortense, 
and are getting our hawsers bent, ready for a 
start in half an hour's time. My next letter, 
please God, will be dated from Hammerfest. I 
suppose I shall be about fifteen or twenty days 
getting there, but this will depend on the state of 
the ice about Jan Mayen. If the anchorage is 
clear, I shall spend a few days in examining the 
island, which by all accounts would appear to 
be most curious. 

I happened first to hear of its existence from 
a very intelligent whaling Captain I fell in with 
among the Shetlands four years ago. He was 
sailing home to Hull, after fishing the Spitzber- 
gen waters, and had sighted the huge moun- 
tain which forms the northern extremity of Jan 
Mayen, on his way south. Luckily, the weather 
was fine while he was passing, and the sketch he 
made of it at the time so filled me with amaze- 
ment, that I then determined, if ever I got the 
chance, to go and see with my own eyes so great 
a marvel. Imagine a spike of igneous rock (the 
whole island is volcanic), shooting straight up 
out of the sea to the height of 6,870 feet, not 
broad-based like a pyramid, nor round-topped 
like a sugar-loaf, but needle-shaped, pointed like 



THE COLONISTS OF JAN MAYEN. 149 

the spire of a church. If only my Hull skipper 
were as good a draughtsman as he seemed to be 
a seaman, we should now be on our way to 
one of the wonders of the world. Most peo- 
ple here hold out rather a doleful prospect, and 
say that, in the first place, it is probable the whole 
island will be imprisoned within the eternal fields 
of ice, that lie out for upwards of a hundred and 
fifty miles along the eastern coast of Greenland ; 
and next, that if even the sea should be clear in 
its vicinity, the fogs up there are so dense and 
constant that the chances are very much against 
our hitting the land. But the fact of the last 
French man-of-war which sailed in that direction 
never having returned, has made those seas need- 
lessly unpopular at Reykjavik. 

It was during one of these fogs that Captain 
Fotherby, the original discoverer of Jan Mayen, 
stumbled upon it in 1614. While sailing south- 
wards in a mist too thick to see a ship's length 
off, he suddenly heard the noise of waters break- 
ing on a great shore, and when the gigantic bases 
of Mount Beerenberg gradually disclosed them- 
selves, he thought he had discovered some new 
continent. Since then it has been often sighted 
by homeward-bound whalers, but rarely landed 
upon. About the year 1633 the Dutch Govern- 
ment, wishing to establish a settlement in the 



150 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

actual neighbourhood of the fishing-grounds, 
where the blubber might be boiled down, and 
the spoils of each season transported home in the 
smallest bulk, — actually induced seven seamen 
to volunteer remaining the whole winter on the 
island.* Huts were built for them, and having 
been furnished with an ample supply of salt pro- 
visions, they were left to resolve the problem, as 
to whether or no human beings could support the 
severities of the climate. Standing on the shore, 
these seven men saw their comrades' parting sails 
sink down beneath the sun, — then watched the 
sun sink, as had sunk the sails; — but extracts 
from their own simple narrative are the most 
touching record I can give you of their fate : — 
" The 26th of August, our fleet set sail for Hol- 
land with a strong northeast wind, and a hollow 
sea, which continued all that night. The 28th, 
the wind the same ; it began to snow very hard ; 
we then shared half a pound of tobacco betwixt 

* The names of the seven Dutch seamen who attempted 
to winter in Jan Mayen's Island were : — 

Outgert Jacobson, of Grootenbrook, their commander. 

Adrian Martin Carman, of Schiedam, clerk, 

Thauniss Thaunissen, of Schermehem, cook. 

Dick Peterson, of Veenhuyse. 

Peter Peterson, of Harlem. 

Sebastian Gyse, of Defts-Haven. 

Gerard Beautin, of Bruges. 



THEIR JOURNAL. 151 

us, which was to be our allowance for a week. 
Towards evening we went about together, to see 
whether we could discover any thing worth our 
observation ; but met with nothing." And so on 
for many a weary day of sleet and storm. 

On the 8th of September they " were fright- 
ened by a noise of something falling to the 
ground," — probably some volcanic disturbance. 
A month later it becomes so cold that their linen, 
after a moment's exposure to the air, becomes 
frozen like a board.* Huge fleets of ice beleaguered 
the island, the sun disappears, and they spend 
most of their time in " rehearsing to one another 
the adventures that had befallen them both by 
sea and land." On the 12th of December they 
kill a bear, having already begun to feel the 
effects of a salt diet. At last comes New Year's 
Day, 1636. " After having wished each other a 

* The climate, however, does not appear to have been then 
so inclement in these latitudes as it has since become. A 
similar deterioration in the temperature, both of Spitzbergen 
and Greenland, has also been observed. In Iceland we have 
undoubted evidence of corn having been formerly grown, as 
well as of the existence of timber of considerable size, though 
now it can scarce produce a cabbage, or a stunted shrub of 
birch. M. Babinet, of the French Institute, goes a little too 
far when he says, in the Journal des Debats of the 30th De- 
cember, 1856, that for many years Jan May en has been inac- 
cessible. 



152 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

happy new year, and success in our enterprise, 
we went to prayers, to disburden our hearts 
before God." On the 25th of February, (the very 
day on which Wallenstein was murdered,) the 
sun reappeared. By the 22d of March scurvy 
had already declared itself: " For want of re- 
freshments we began to be very heartless, and so 
afflicted that our legs are scarce able to bear us." 
On the 3d of April, " there being no more than 
two of us in health, we killed for them the only 
two pullets we had left ; and they fed pretty 
heartily upon them, in hopes it might prove a 
means to recover part of their strength. We 
were sorry we had not a dozen more for their 
sake." On Easter Day, Adrian Carman, of Schie- 
dam, their clerk, dies. " The Lord have mercy 
upon his soul, and upon us all, we being very 
sick." During the next few days they seem all 
to have got rapidly worse ; one only is strong 
enough to move about. He has learnt writing 
from his comrades since coming to the island; 
and it is he who concludes the melancholy story. 
a The 23d (April), the wind blew from the same 
corner, with small rain. We were by this time 
reduced to a very deplorable state, there being 
none of them all, except myself, that were able 
to help themselves, much less one another, so 
that the whole burden lay upon my shoulders, — 



THEIR DEATHS. 153 

and I perform my duty as well as I am able, as 
long as God pleases to give me strength. I am 
just now a-going to help our commander out of 
his cabin, at his request, because he imagined by 
this change to ease his pain, he then struggling 
with death." For seven days this gallant fellow 
goes on " striving to do his duty ; " that is to say, 
making entries in the journal as to the state of 
the weather, that being the principal object their 
employers had in view when they left them on 
the island ; but on the 30th of April his strength 
too gave way, and his failing hand could do no 
more than trace an incompleted sentence on the 
page. 

Meanwhile succour and reward are on their 
way toward the forlorn garrison. On the 4th of 
June, up again above the horizon rise the sails 
of the Zealand fleet ; but no glad faces come 
forth to greet the boats as they pull towards the 
shore ; and when their comrades search for those 
they had hoped to find alive and well, — lo ! each 
lies dead in his own hut, — one with an open 
Prayer-book by his side; another with his hand 
stretched out towards the ointment he had used 
for his stiffened joints ; and the last survivor, 
with the unfinished journal still lying by his 
side. 

The most recent recorded landing on the island 



154 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

was effected twenty-two years ago, by the brave 
and pious Captain, now Dr. Scoresby,* on his 
return from a whaling cruise. He had seen the 
mountain of Beerenberg one hundred miles off, 
and, on approaching, found the coast quite clear 
of ice. According to his survey and observa- 
tions, Jan Mayen is about sixteen miles long, by 
four wide ; but I hope soon, on my own author- 
ity, to be able to tell you more about it. 

Certainly, this our last evening spent in Ice- 
land will not have been the least joyous of our 
stay. The dinner on board The Reine Hortense 
was very pleasant. I renewed acquaintance with 
some of my old Baltic friends, and was presented 
to two or three of the Prince's staff, who did 
not accompany the expedition to the Geysers ; 
among others, to the Due d'Abrantes, Marshal 
Junot's son. On sitting down to table, I found 
myself between H. I. H. and Monsieur de Saulcy, 
member of the French Institute, who made that 
famous expedition to the Dead Sea, and is one 
of the gayest, pleasantest persons I have ever 
met. Of course there was a great deal of laugh- 
ing and talking, as well as much speculation with 
regard to the costume of the Icelandic ladies 
we were to see at the ball. It appears that the 

* I regret to be obliged to subjoin that Dr. Scoresby has 
died since the above was written. 



LOW DRESSES. 155 

dove-cots of Reykjavik have been a good deal 
fluttered by an announcement emanating from 
the gallant Captain of The Artemise, that his 
fair guests would be expected to come in low 
dresses; for it would seem that the practice of 
showing their ivory shoulders is, as yet, an idea 
as shocking to the pretty ladies of this country 
as waltzes were to our grandmothers. Nay, there 
was not even to be found a native milliner equal 
to the task of marking out that mysterious line 
which divides the prudish from the improper ; 
so that the Collet-monte faction have been in 
despair. As it turned out, their anxiety on this 
head was unnecessary ; for we found, pn entering 
the ball-room, that, with the natural refinement 
which characterizes this noble people, our bright- 
eyed partners, as if by inspiration, had hit off the 
exact sweep from shoulder to shoulder, at which 
— after those many oscillations, up and down, 
which the female corsage has undergone since 
the time of the first Director — good taste has 
finally arrested it. 

I happened to be particularly interested in the 
above important question ; for up to that mo- 
ment I had always been haunted by a horrid 
paragraph I had met with somewhere in an Ice- 
landic book of travels, to the effect that it was 
the practice of Icelandic women, from early 



156 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

childhood, to flatten down their bosoms as much 
as possible. This fact, for the honour of the 
island, I am now in a position to deny ; and I 
here declare that, as far as I had the indiscretion 
to observe, those maligned ladies appear to me 
as buxom in form as any rosy English girl I 
have ever seen. 

It was nearly nine o'clock before we adjourned 
from The Reine Hortense to the ball. Already, 
for some time past, boats full of gay dresses had 
been passing under the corvette's stern on their 
way to The Artemise, looking like flower-beds 
that had put to sea, — though they certainly could 
no longer be called a parterre ; — and by the time 
we ourselves mounted her lofty sides, a mingled 
stream of music, light, and silver laughter, was 
pouring out of every port-hole. The ball-room 
was very prettily arranged. The upper-deck had 
been closed in with a lofty roof of canvas, from 
which hung suspended glittering lustres, formed 
by bayonets with their points collected into an 
inverted pyramid, and the butt-ends serving as 
sockets for the tapers. Every wall was gay with 
flags, — the frigate's frowning armament all hid or 
turned to ladies' uses ; 82-pounders became sofas 
— boarding-pikes, balustrades — pistols, candle- 
sticks — the brass carronades set on end, pillar- 
wise, their brawling mouths stopped with nose- 



A BALL ON BOARD. 157 

gays ; while portraits of the Emperor and the Em- 
press, busts, colours draped with Parisian cunning, 
gave to the scene an appearance of festivity that 
looked quite fairy-like in so sombre a region. As 
for our gallant host, I never saw such spirits ; he 
is a fine old gray-headed blow-hard of fifty odd, 
talking English like a native, and combining the 
frank, open-hearted cordiality of a sailor with 
that graceful, winning gayety peculiar to French- 
men. I never saw anything more perfect than 
the kind, almost fatherly courtesy with which he 
welcomed each blooming bevy of maidens that 
trooped up his ship's side. About two o'clock, 
we had supper on the main-deck. I had the 
honour of taking down Miss Thora, of Besses- 
tad ; and somehow, this time, I no longer found 
myself wandering back in search of the pale face 
of the old world Thora, being, I suppose, suffici- 
ently occupied by the soft, gentle eyes of the one 
beside me. With the other young ladies I did 
not make much acquaintance, as I experienced a 
difficulty in finding befitting remarks on the 
occasion of being presented to them. Once or 
twice, indeed, I hazarded, through their fathers, 
some little complimentary observations in Latin ; 
but I cannot say that I found that language lend 
itself readily to the gallantries of the ball-room. 
After supper, dancing recommenced, and the 



158 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

hilarity of the evening reached its highest pitch, 
when half a dozen sailors, dressed in turbans 
made of flags, (one of them a lady with the face 
of the tragic muse,) came forward and danced 
the cancan, with a gravity and decorum that 
would have greatly edified what Gavarni calls 
" la puduer municipaleP 

At three o'clock a.m. I returned on board the 
schooner, and we were all now very busy in 
making final preparations for departure. Fitz 
is rearranging his apothecary's shop. Sigurdr is 
writing letters. The last strains of music have 
ceased on board The Artemise ; the sun is 
already high in the heavens ; the flower-beds 
are returning on shore, — a little draggled, per- 
haps, as if just pelted by a thunder-storm ; The 
Heine Hortense has got her steam up, and the 
real, serious part of our voyage is about to 
begin. 

I feel that my description has not half done 
justice to the wonders of this interesting Island; 
but I can refer you to your friend Sir Henry 
Holland for further details ; he paid a visit to 
Iceland in 1810, with Sir G. Mackenzie, and 
made himself thoroughly acquainted with its 
historical and scientific associations. 



FEARFUL SUGGESTIONS. 159 

CONCLUDING ACT. 

Scene. R. Y. S. Foam : astern of The Heine Hortense. 

DEAMATIS PERSONS. 

Voice of French Captain, Commanding E. H. 

Lord D. 

Doctor. 

Wilson. 

Voice of French Captain. — " Nous partons ." 

Lord D . " All ready, Sir." 

Wilson to Doctor (sotto voce). — " Sir! " 

Doctor.—" Eh ? " 

Wilson. — " Do you know, Sir ? " 

Doctor.—" What?" 

Wilson. — " Oh, nothing, Sir ; — only we're going 
to the hicy regions, Sir, ain't we ? Well, I've just 
seen that ere brig as is come from there, Sir, and 
they say there's a precious lot of ice this year ! 
(Pause.) Do you know, Sir, the skipper showed 
me the bows of his vessel, Sir. She's got seven 
feet of solid timber in her for'ard ; we've only 
two inches, Sir!" (Dives below.) 

Voice of French Captain, (with a slight accent.) 
— " Are you ready ? " 

Lord D . " Ay, ay, Sir! Up anchor ! " 



LETTER VIII. 

START FROM REYKJAVIK — SNAEFELL THE LADY OF 

FRODA — A BERSERK TRAGEDY — THE CHAMPION OF 
BREIDAVIK — ONUNDER FIORD — THE LAST NIGHT — 
CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE — FETE ON BOARD THE 
" REINE HORTENSE " — LE PERE ARCTIQUE — WE FALL 
IN WITH THE ICE — " THE SAXON " DISAPPEARS — MIST 
— A PARTING IN A LONELY SPOT — JAN MA YEN — MOUNT 
BEERENBERG — AN UNPLEASANT POSITION — SHIFT OF 
WIND AND EXTRICATION — " TO NORROWAY OVER THE 
FAEM " — A NASTY COAST — HAMMERFEST. 

Hammerfest, July. 

Back in Europe again, — within reach of posts ! 
The glad sun shining, the soft wind blowing, and 
roses on the cabin table, — as if the region of fog 
and ice we have just fled forth from were indeed 
the dream-land these summer sights would make 
it seem. I cannot tell you how gay and joyous 
it all appears to us, fresh from a climate that 
would not have been unworthy of Dante's In- 
ferno. And yet — had it been twice as bad, what 
we have seen would have more than repaid us, 
though it has been no child's play to get to see it. 



CURIOUS GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 161 

But I must begin where I left off in my last 
letter, — just, I think, as we were getting under 
way, to be towed by The Reine Hortense out 
of Reykjavik Harbour. Having been up all 
night, as soon as we were well clear of the land, 
and it was evident the towing business was 
doing well, I turned in for a few hours. When 
I came on deck again we had crossed the Faxe 
Fiord on our way north, and were sweeping 
round the base of Snaefell — an extinct volcano 
which rises from the sea in an icy cone to the 
height of 5,000 feet, and grimly looks across to 
Greenland. The day was beautiful ; the moun- 
tain's summit beamed down upon us in un- 
clouded splendour, and every thing seemed to 
promise an uninterrupted view of the west coast 
of Iceland, along whose rugged cliffs few mari- 
ners have ever sailed. Indeed, until within these 
last few years, the passage, I believe, was alto- 
gether impracticable, in consequence of the con- 
tinuous fields of ice which used to drift down 
the narrow channel between the frozen continent 
and the northern extremity of the island. Lately, 
some great change seems to have taken place in 
the lie of the Greenland ice ; and during the 
summer-time you can pass through, though later 
in the year a solid belt binds the two shores 
together. 



162 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Both in a historical and scientific point of 
view, the whole country lying about the basanite 
roots of Snaefell is most interesting. At the 
feet of its southern slopes are to be seen wonder- 
ful ranges of columnar basalt, prismatic caverns, 
ancient craters, and specimens of almost every 
formation that can result from the agency of 
subterranean fires ; while each glen, and bay, 
and headland, in the neighbourhood, teems with 
traditionary lore. On the northwestern side of 
the mountain stretches the famous Eyrbiggja 
district, the most classic ground in Iceland, with 
the towns, or rather farmsteads, of Froda, Helga- 
fell, and Biarnarhaf. 

This last place was the scene of one of the 
most curious and characteristic Sagas to be 
found in the whole catalogue of Icelandic chron- 
icles. 

In the days when the same Jarl Hakon I have 
already mentioned lorded it over Norway, an 
Icelander of the name of Vermund, who had 
come to pay his court to the lord of Lade, took 
a violent wish to engage in his own service a 
couple of gigantic Berserks,* named Halli and 

* Berserk, i. e. bare sark. The berserks seem to have been 
a description of athletes, who were in the habit of stimulating 
their nervous energies by the use of some intoxicating drug, 
which rendered them capable of feats of extraordinary 
strength and daring. The Berserker gang must have been 



THE TUMULTUOUS ONE. 163 

Leikner, whom the Jarl had retained about his 
person, — fancying that two champions of such 
great strength and prowess would much add to 
his consequence on returning home. In vain the 
Jarl w T arned him that personages of that descrip- 
tion were wont to give trouble and become 
unruly, — nothing would serve but he must needs 
carry them away with him ; nay, if they would 
but come, they might ask as wages any boon 
which might be in his power to grant. The 
bargain accordingly was made ; but, on arriving 
in Iceland, the first thing Halli took it into his 
head to require was a wife, who should be rich, 
nobly born, and beautiful. As such a request 
was difficult to comply with, Vermund, who was 
noted for being a man of gentle disposition, de- 
termined to turn his troublesome retainers over 
to his brother, Arngrim Styr, i. e. the Stirring or 
Tumultuous One, as being a likelier man than 
himself to know how to keep them in order. 

Arngrim happened to have a beautiful daugh- 
ter, named Asdisa, with whom the inflammable 
Berserk of course fell in love. Not daring openly 
to refuse him, Arngrim told his would-be son-in- 
law, that before complying with his suit, he must 

something very like the Malay custom of running a muck. 
Their moments of excitement were followed by periods of 
great exhaustion. 



164 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

consult his friends, and posted off to Helgafell, 
where dwelt the pagan Pontiff Snorre. The 
result of this conference was an agreement on 
the part of Styr to give his daughter to the Ber- 
serk, provided he and his brother would cut a 
road through the lava rocks of Biarnarhaf. Halli 
and Leikner immediately set about executing 
this prodigious task ; while the scornful Asdisa, 
arrayed in her most splendid attire, came sweep- 
ing past in silence, as if to mock their toil. The 
poetical reproaches addressed to the young lady 
on this occasion by her sturdy admirer and his 
mate are still extant. In the mean time, the 
other servants of the crafty Arngrim had con- 
structed a subterranean bath, so contrived that 
at a moment's notice it could be flooded with 
boiling water. Their task at last concluded, the 
two Berserks returned home to claim their re- 
ward ; but Arngrim Styr, as if in the exuberance 
of his affection, proposed that they should first 
refresh themselves in the new bath. No sooner 
had they descended into it, than Arngrim shut 
down the trap-door, and having ordered a newly- 
stripped bullock's hide to be stretched before the 
entrance, gave the signal for the boiling water to 
be turned on. Fearful were the struggles of the 
scalded giants : Halli, indeed, succeeded in burst- 
ing up the door ; but his foot slipped on the 



GLIMPSE OF AMERICA. 165 

bloody bull's hide, and Arngrim stabbed him to 
the heart. His brother was then easily forced 
back into the seething water. 

The effusion composed by the Tumultuous 
One on the occasion of this exploit is also 
extant, and does not yield in poetical merit to 
those which I have already mentioned as having 
emanated from his victims. 

As soon as the Pontiff Snorre heard of the 
result of Arngrim Styr's stratagem, he came over 
and married the Lady Asdisa. Traces of the 
road made by the unhappy champions can yet be 
detected at Biarnarhaf, and tradition still identi- 
fies the grave of the Berserks. 

Connected with this same Pontiff Snorre is 
another of those mysterious notices of a great 
land in the western ocean which we find in the 
ancient chronicles, so interwoven with narrative 
we know to be true, as to make it impossible not 
to attach a certain amount of credit to them. 
This particular story is the more interesting as 
its denouement, abruptly left in the blankest mys- 
tery by one Saga, is incidentally revealed to us in 
the course of another, relating to events with 
which the first had no connection.* 

* From internal evidence it is certain that the chronicle 
which contains these Sagas must have been written about the 
beginning of the thirteenth century. 

8* 



166 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

It seems that Snorre had a beautiful sister, 
named Thured of Froda, with whom a certain 
gallant gentleman — called Bjorn, the son of As- 
trand — fell head and ears in love. Unfortunately, 
a richer rival appears in the field; and though 
she had given her heart to Bjorn, Snorre — who, 
we have already seen, was a prudent man — 
insisted upon her giving her hand to his rival. 
Disgusted by such treatment, Bjorn sails away 
to the coasts of the Baltic, and joins a famous 
company of sea-rovers, called the Jomsburg Vi- 
kings. In this worthy society he so distinguishes 
himself by his valour and daring that he obtains 
the title of the Champion of Breidavik. After 
many doughty deeds, done by sea and land, he 
at last returns, loaded with wealth and honours, 
to his native country. 

In the summer-time of the year 999, soon after 
his arrival, was held a great fair at Froda, whither 
all the merchants, " clad in coloured garments," 
congregated from the adjacent country. Thither 
came also Bjorn' s old love, the Lady of Froda; 
"and Bjorn went up and spoke to her, and it was 
thought likely their talk would last long, since 
they for such a length of time had not seen each 
other." But to this renewal of old acquaintance 
both the lady's husband and her brother very 
much objected ; and " it seemed to Snorre that 



thured's lover. 167 

it would be a good plan to kill Bjorn." So, about 
the time of hay-making, off he rides, with some 
retainers, to his victim's home, having carefully 
instructed one of them how to deal the first blow. 
Bjorn was in the home-field (tun), mending his 
sledge, when the cavalcade appeared in sight ; 
and, guessing what motive had inspired the visit, 
went straight up to Snorre, who rode in front 
"in a blue cloak," and held the knife with which 
he had been working in such a position as to be 
able to stab the Pontiff to the heart, should his 
followers attempt to lift their hands against 
himself. Comprehending the position of affairs, 
Snorre's friends kept quiet. " Bjorn then asked 
the news." Snorre confesses that he had in- 
tended to kill him ; but adds, " Thou tookest 
such a lucky grip of me at our meeting, that 
thou must have peace this time, however it may 
have been determined before." The conversation 
is concluded by an agreement on the part of 
Bjorn to leave the country, as he feels it impos- 
sible to abstain from paying visits to Thured as 
long as he remains in the neighbourhood. Hav- 
ing manned a ship, Bjorn put to sea in the sum- 
mer time. " When they sailed away, a northeast 
wind was blowing, which wind lasted long during 
that summer; but of this ship was nothing heard 
since this long time." And so we conclude it is 



168 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

all over with the poor Champion of Breidavik! 
Not a bit of it. He turns up, thirty years after- 
wards, safe and sound, in the uttermost parts of 
the earth. 

In the year 1029, a certain Icelander, named 
Gudlief, undertakes a voyage to Limerick, in 
Ireland. On his return home, he is driven out 
of his course by northeast winds, heaven knows 
where. After drifting for many days to the 
westward, he at last falls in with land. On 
approaching the beach, a great crowd of people 
came down to meet the strangers, apparently 
with no very friendly intentions. Shortly after- 
wards, a tall and venerable chieftain makes his 
appearance, and, to Gudlief ? s great astonishment, 
addresses him in Icelandic. Having entertained 
the weary mariners very honourably, and supplied 
them with provisions, the old man bids them 
speed back to Iceland, as it would be unsafe for 
them to remain where they were. His own name 
he refused to tell ; but having learnt that Gudlief 
comes from the neighbourhood of Snaefell, he 
puts into his hands a sword and a ring. The ring 
is to be given to Thured of Froda ; the sword to 
her son Kjartan. When Gudlief asks by whom 
he is to say the gifts are sent, the ancient chief- 
tain answers, " Say they come from one who was 
a better friend of the Lady of Froda than of her 



CELTIC TRACES. 169 

brother Snorre of Helgafell." Wherefore it is 
conjectured that this man was Bjorn, the son of 
Astrand, Champion of Breidavik. 

After this, Madam, I hope I shall never hear 
you depreciate the constancy of men. Thured 
had better have married Bjorn after all ! 

I forgot to mention that when Gudlief landed 
on the strange coast, it seemed to him that the 
inhabitants spoke Irish. Now, there are many 
antiquaries inclined to believe in the former ex- 
istence of an Irish colony to the southward of 
the Vinland of the Northmen. Scattered through 
the Sagas are several notices of a distant coun- 
try in the West, which is called Ireland ed Mekla 
— Great Ireland, or the White Man's land. When 
Pizarro penetrated into the heart of Mexico, a 
tradition already existed of the previous arrival 
of white men from the East. Among the Shaw- 
nasee Indians a story is still preserved of Florida 
having been once inhabited by white men, who 
used iron instruments. In 1658, Sir Erland the 
Priest had in his possession a chart, even then 
thought ancient, of " The Land of the White 
Men, or Hibernia Major, situated opposite Vin- 
land the Good ; " and Gaelic philologists pretend 
to trace a remarkable affinity between many of 
the American-Indian dialects and the ancient 
Celtic. 



170 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

But to return to The Foam. After passing the 
cape, away we went across the spacious Brieda 
Fiord, at the rate of nine or ten knots an hour, 
reeling and bounding at the heels of the steamer 
which seemed scarcely to feel how uneven was 
the surface across which we were speeding. 
Down dropped Snaefell beneath the sea, and dim 
before us, clad in evening haze, rose the shadowy 
steeps of Bardestrand. The northwest division 
of Iceland consists of one huge peninsula, spread 
out upon the sea like a human hand, the fingers 
just reaching over the arctic circle ; while up be- 
tween them run the gloomy fiords, sometimes to 
the length of twenty, thirty, and even forty miles. 
Any thing more grand and mysterious than the 
appearance of their solemn portals, as we passed 
across from bluff to bluff, it is impossible to con- 
ceive. Each might have served as a separate 
entrance to some poet's hell — so drear and fatal 
seemed the vista one's eye just caught receding 
between the endless ranks of precipice and 
pyramid. 

There is something, moreover, particularly mys- 
tical in the effect of the gray, dreamy atmosphere 
of an arctic night, through whose uncertain me- 
dium mountain and headland loom as impalpable 
as the frontiers of a demon world ; and as I kept 
gazing at the glimmering peaks, and monstrous 



MYTHOLOGY. 171 

crags, and shattered stratifications, heaped up 
along the coast in Cyclopian disorder, I under- 
stood how natural it was that the Scandinavian 
mythology, of whose mysteries the Icelanders 
were ever the natural guardians and interpreters, 
should have assumed that broad, massive sim- 
plicity which is its most beautiful characteristic. 
Amid the rugged features of such a country, 
the refinements of Paganism would have been 
dwarfed to insignificance. How out of place 
would seem a Jove, with his beard in ringlets — 
a trim Apollo — a sleek Bacchus — an ambrosial 
Venus — a slim Diana, and all their attendant 
groups of Oreads and Cupids — amid the ocean 
mists, and ice-bound torrents, the flame-scarred 
mountains, and four months' night — of a land 
which the opposing forces of heat and cold have 
selected for a battle-field ! 

The undeveloped reasoning faculty is prone to 
attach an undue value and meaning to the forms 
of things, and the infancy of a nation's mind is 
always more ready to worship the manifestations 
of a Power than to look beyond them for a cause. 
Was it not natural then that these northerns, 
dwelling in daily communion with this grand Na- 
ture, should fancy they could perceive a mysterious 
and independent energy in her operations ; and 
at last come to confound the moral contest man 
feels within him, with the physical strife he finds 



172 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

around him ; to see in the returning sun — foster- 
ing into renewed existence the winter-stifled 
world — even more than a type of that spiritual 
consciousness which alone can make the dead 
heart stir ; to discover even more than an analogy 
between the reign of cold, darkness, and desola- 
tion, and the still blanker ruin of a sin-perverted 
soul ? But in that iron clime, amid such awful 
associations, the conflict going on was too ter- 
rible — the contending powers too visibly in pres- 
ence of each other, for the practical, conscientious 
Norse mind to be content with the puny godships 
of a Roman Olympus. Nectar, Sensuality, and 
Inextinguishable Laughter were elements of felic- 
ity too mean for the nobler atmosphere of their 
Walhalla ; and to those active temperaments and 
healthy minds, — invigorated and solemnized by 
the massive mould of the scenery around them, — 
Strength, Courage, Endurance, and, above all, 
Self-sacrifice — naturally seemed more essential 
attributes of divinity than mere elegance and 
beauty. And we must remember, that whilst the 
vigorous imagination of the north was delighting 
itself in creating a stately dream-land, where it 
strove to blend, in a grand world-picture — always 
harmonious, though not always consistent — the 
influences which sustained both the physical and 
moral system of its universe, an under-current of 
sober Gothic common sense, induced it — as a 



WALHALLA. 173 

kind of protest against the too material interpre- 
tation of the symbolism it had employed — to 
wind up its religious scheme by sweeping into 
the chaos of oblivion all the glorious fabric it had 
evoked, and proclaiming — in the place of the 
transient gods and perishable heaven of its As- 
gaard — that One undivided Deity, at whose ap- 
proach the pillars of Walhalla were to fall, and 
Odin and his peers to perish, with all the subtle 
machinery of their existence; while man — him- 
self immortal — was summoned to receive, at the 
hands of the Eternal All-Father, the sentence 
that waited upon his deeds. It is true, this purer 
system belonged only to the early ages. As in 
the case of every false religion, the symbolism of 
the Scandinavian mythology lost with each suc- 
ceeding generation something of its transparency, 
and at last degenerated into a gross superstition. 
But traces still remained, even down to the times 
of Christian ascendency, of the deep, philosophi- 
cal spirit in which it had been originally con- 
ceived ; and through its holy imagery, there ran a 
vein of tender humour, such as still characterizes 
the warm-hearted, laughter-loving northern races. 
Of this mixture of philosophy and fun, the fol- 
lowing story is no bad specimen. 1 

1 The story of Thor's journey has been translated from the 
Edda, both by the Howitts and Mr. Thorpe. 



174 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Once on a time, the two GEsir, Thor, the Thun- 
der god, and his brother Lopt, attended by a ser- 
vant, determined to go eastward to Jotunheim, 
the land of the giants, in search of adventures. 
Crossing over a great water, they came to a deso- 
late plain, at whose further end, tossing and wav- 
ing in the wind, rose the tree-tops of a great 
forest. After journeying for many hours along 
its dusky labyrinths, they began to be anxious 
about a resting-place for the night. " At last, 
Lopt perceived a very spacious house, on one 
side of which was an entrance as wide as the 
house itself; and there they took up their night- 
quarters. At midnight they perceived a great 
earthquake ; the ground reeled under them and 
the house shook. 

" Then up rose Thor and called to his com- 
panions. They sought about, and found a side 
building to the right, into which they went. 
Thor placed himself at the door ; the rest went 
and sat down further in, and were very much 
afraid. 

" Thor kept his hammer in his hand, ready to 
defend them. They then heard a terrible noise 
and roaring. As it began to dawn, Thor went 
out, and saw a man lying in the wood not far 
from them ; he was by no means small, and he 
slept and snored loudly. Then Thor understood 



thor's journey to jotunheim. 175 

what the noise was which they heard in the night. 
He buckled on his belt of power, by which he 
increased his divine strength. At the same in- 
stant the man awoke, and rose up. It is said 
that Thor was so much astonished that he did 
not dare to slay him with his hammer, but in- 
quired his name. He called himself Skrymer. 
4 Thy name,' said he, * I need not ask, for I know 
that thou art Asar-Thor. But what hast thou 
done with my glove ? ' 

" Skrymei* stooped and took up his glove, and 
Thor saw that it was the house in which they 
had passed the night, and that the out-building 
was the thumb." 

Here follow incidents which do not differ 
widely from certain passages in the history of 
Jack the Giant Killer. Thor makes three several 
attempts to knock out the easy-going giant's 
brains during a slumber, in which he is repre- 
sented as " snoring outrageously," — and after 
each blow of the Thunder god's hammer, Skry- 
mer merely wakes up — strokes his beard — and 
complains of feeling some trifling inconvenience, 
such as a dropped acorn on his head, a fallen 
leaf, or a little moss shaken from the boughs. 
Finally, he takes leave of them, — points out the 
way to Utgard Loke's palace, advises them not 
to give themselves airs at his court, — as unbe- 



176 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

coming " such little fellows " as they were, and 
disappears in the wood ; " and " — as t the old 
chronicler slyly adds — " it is not said whether the 
CEsir wished ever to see him again." 

They then journey on till noon ; till they come 
to a vast palace, where a multitude of men, of 
whom the greater number were immensely large, 
sat on two benches. " After this they advanced 
into the presence of the king, Utgard Loke, and 
saluted him. He scarcely deigned to give them 
a look, and said smiling : i It is late to inquire 
after true tidings from a great distance ; but is it 
not Thor that I see ? Yet you are really bigger 
than I imagined. What are the exploits that 
you can perform? For no one is tolerated 
amongst us who cannot distinguish himself by 
some art or accomplishment.' 

" ' Then,' said Lopt, ' I understand an art of 
which I am prepared to give proof; and that is, 
that no one here can dispose of his food as I 
can.' Then answered Utgard Loke : ' Truly this 
is an art, if thou canst achieve it ; which we will 
now see.' He called from the bench a man 
named Loge to contend with Lopt. They set a 
trough in the middle of the hall, filled with meat. 
Lopt placed himself at one end and Loge at the 
other. Both ate the best they could, and they 
met in the middle of the trough. Lopt had 



thor's journey to jotunheim. 177 

picked the meat from the bones, but Loge had 
eaten meat, bones, and trough altogether. All 
agreed Lopt was beaten. Then asked Utgard 
Loke what art the young man (Thor's attendant) 
understood ? Thjalfe answered, that he would 
run a race with any one that Utgard Loke would 
appoint. There was a very good race-ground on 
a level field. Utgard Loke called a young man 
named Huge, and bade him run with Thjalfe. 
Thjalfe runs his best, at three several attempts — 
according to received Saga customs, — but is of 
course beaten in the race. 

" Then asked Utgard Loke of Thor what were 
the feats that he would attempt corresponding to 
the fame that went abroad of him ? Thor an- 
swered that he thought he could beat any one at 
drinking. Utgard Loke said, ' Very good ; ' and 
bade his cup-bearer bring out the horn from 
which his courtiers were accustomed to drink. 
Immediately appeared the cup-bearer, and placed 
the horn in Thor's hand. Utgard Loke then 
said, 'that to empty that horn at one pull was 
well done ; some drained it at twice ; but that 
he was a wretched drinker who could not finish 
it at the third draught.' Thor looked at the 
horn, and thought that it was not large, though 
it was tolerably long. He was very thirsty, 
lifted it to his mouth, and was very happy at the 



178 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

thought of so good a draught. When he could 
drink no more, he took the horn from his mouth, 
and saw, to his astonishment, that there was 
little less in it than before. Utgard Loke said : 
' Well hast thou drunk, yet not much. I should 
never have believed but that Asar-Thor could 
have drunk more ; however, of this I am con- 
fident, thou wilt empty it at the second time.' 
He drank again ; but when he took away the 
horn from his mouth, it seemed to him that it 
had sunk less this time than the first; yet the 
horn might now be carried without spilling. 

" Then said Utgard Loke : ' How is this, 
Thor? If thou dost not reserve thyself pur- 
posely for the third draught, thine honour must 
be lost; how canst thou be regarded as a great 
man, as the CEsir look upon thee, if thou dost 
not distinguish thyself in other ways more than 
thou hast done in this ? ' 

" Then was Thor angry, put the horn to his 
mouth, drank with all his might, and strained 
himself to the utmost ; and when he looked into 
the horn it was now somewhat lessened. He 
gave up the horn, and would not drink any more. 
4 Now,' said Utgard Loke, ' now is it clear that 
thy strength is not so great as we supposed. 
Wilt thou try some other game, for we see that 
thou canst not succeed in this ? ' Thor an- 



179 

swered : " I will now try something else ; but I 
wonder who, amongst the GEsir, would call that 
a little drink ! "What play will you propose ? ' 

" Utgard Loke answered : ' Young men think 
it mere play to lift my cat from the ground ; and 
I would never have proposed this to CEsir Thor, 
if I did not perceive that thou art a much less 
man than I had thought thee.' Thereupon 
sprang an uncommonly great gray cat upon the 
floor. Thor advanced, took the cat round the 
body, and lifted it up. The cat bent its back in 
the same degree as Thor lifted ; and when Thor 
had lifted one of its feet from the ground, and 
was not able to lift it any higher, said Utgard 
Loke : ' The game has terminated just as I ex- 
pected. The cat is very great, and Thor is low 
and small, compared with the great men who are 
here with us.' 

" Then said Thor : ' Little as you call me, I 
challenge any one to wrestle with me, for now 
I am angry.' Utgard Loke answered, looking 
round upon the benches : < I see no one here who 
would not deem it play to wrestle with thee ; but 
let us call hither the old Ella, my nurse ; with her 
shall Thor prove his strength, if he will. She 
has given many one a fall who appeared far 
stronger than Thor is.' On this there entered the 
hall an old woman ; and Utgard Loke said she 



180 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

would wrestle with Thor. In short, the contest 
went so, that the more Thor exerted himself, the 
firmer she stood ; and now began the old woman 
to exert herself, and Thor to give way, and severe 
struggles followed. It was not long before Thor 
was brought down on one knee. Then Utgard 
Loke stepped forward, bade them cease the strug- 
gle, and said that Thor should attempt nothing 
more at his court. It was now drawing towards 
night ; Utgard Loke showed Thor and his com- 
panions their lodging, where they were well ac- 
commodated. 

" As soon as it was light the next morning, up 
rose Thor and his companions, dressed them- 
selves, and prepared to set out. Then came Ut- 
gard Loke, and ordered the table to be set, where 
there wanted no good provisions, either meat or 
drink. When they had breakfasted, they set out 
on their way. Utgard Loke accompanied them 
out of the castle ; but at parting he asked Thor 
how the journey had gone off; whether he had 
found any man more mighty than himself ? 
Thor answered, that the enterprise had brought 
him much dishonour, it was not to be denied, 
and that he must esteem himself a man of no 
account, which much mortified him. 

" Utgard Loke replied : < Now will I tell thee 
the truth, since thou art out of my castle, where, 



thor's journey to jotunheim. 181 

so long as I live and reign, thou shalt never re- 
enter ; and whither, believe me, thou hadst never 
come if I had known before what might thou 
possessest, and that thou wouldst so nearly 
plunge us into great trouble. False appearances 
have I created for thee, so that the first time 
when thou mettest the man in the wood it was 
I ; and when thou wouldst open the provision- 
sack, I had laced it together with an iron band, 
so that thou couldst not find the means to undo 
it. After that, thou struckest at me three times 
with the hammer. The first stroke was the 
weakest, and it had been my death had it hit me. 
Thou sawest by my castle a rock, with three 
deep square holes, of which one was very deep ; 
those were the marks of thy hammer. The rock 
I placed in the way of the blow, without thy 
perceiving it. 

" ' So also in the games, when thou contend- 
edst with my courtiers. When Lopt made his 
essay, the fact was this : he was very hungry, 
and ate voraciously ; but he who was called 
Loge, was fire, which consumed the trough as 
well as the meat. And Huge (mind) was my 
thought with which Tbjalfe ran a race, and it was 
impossible for him to match it in speed. When 
thou drankest from the horn, and thoughtest that 
its contents grew no less, it was, notwithstanding, 

9 



182 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

a great marvel, such as I never believed could 
have taken place. The one end of the horn 
stood in the sea, which thou didst not perceive ; 
and when thou comest to the shore, thou wilt see 
how much the ocean has diminished by what 
thou hast drunk. Men will call it the ebb. 

" ' Further,' said he, c most remarkable did it 
seem to me that thou liftedst the cat ; and in 
truth, all became terrified when they saw that 
thou liftedst one of its feet from the ground. For 
it was no cat, as it seemed unto thee, but the 
great serpent that lies coiled round the world. 
Scarcely had he length that his tail and head 
might reach the earth, and thou liftedst him so 
high up that it was but a little way to heaven. 
That was a marvellous wrestling that thou wres- 
tledst with Ella (old age), for never has there 
been any one, nor shall there ever be, let him 
approach what great age he will, that Ella shall 
not overcome. 

" * Now we must part, and it is best for us on 
both sides that you do not often come to me ; 
but if it should so happen, I shall defend my 
castle with such other arts that you shall not be 
able to effect any thing against me.' 

" When Thor heard this discourse, he grasped 
his hammer and lifted it into the air, but as he 
was about to strike, he saw Utgard Loke no- 



THE LAST SUNSET. 183 

where. Then he turned back to the castle to 
destroy it, and he saw only a beautiful and wide 
plain, but no castle." 

So ends the story of Thor's journey to Jotun- 
heim. 

It was now just upon the stroke of midnight. 
Ever since leaving England, as each four-and- 
twenty hours we climbed up nearer to the pole, 
the belt of dusk dividing day from day had been 
growing narrower and narrower, until having 
nearly reached the Arctic circle, this, — the last 
night we were to traverse, — had dwindled to 
a thread of shadow. Only another half-dozen 
leagues more, and we would stand on the thresh- 
old of a four months' day ! For the few preced- 
ing hours, clouds had completely covered the 
heavens, except where a clear interval of sky, that 
lay along the northern horizon, promised a glow- 
ing stage for the sun's last obsequies. But like 
the heroes of old he had veiled his face to die, 
and it was not until he dropped down to the sea 
that the whole hemisphere overflowed with glory 
and the gilded pageant concerted for his funeral 
gathered in slow procession round his grave ; 
reminding one of those tardy honours paid to 
some great prince of song, who — left during life 
to languish in a garret — is buried by nobles in 
Westminster Abbey. A few minutes more the last 



184 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

fiery segment had disappeared beneath the purple 
horizon,, and all was over. 

" The king is dead — the king is dead — the king 
is dead! Long live the king!" And up from 
the sea that had just entombed his sire, rose the 
young monarch of a new day ; while the courtier 
clouds, in their ruby robes, turned faces still 
aglow with the favours of their dead lord, to bor- 
row brighter blazonry from the smile of a new 
master. 

A fairer or a stranger spectacle than the last 
Arctic sunset cannot well be conceived. Evening 
and morning — like kinsmen whose hearts some 
baseless feud has kept asunder — clasping hands 
across the shadow of the vanished night. 

You must forgive me if sometimes I become a 
little magniloquent ; for really, amid the grandeur 
of that fresh primaeval world, it was almost im- 
possible to prevent one's imagination from absorb- 
ing a dash of the local colouring. We seemed to 
have suddenly waked up among the colossal sce- 
nery of Keats's Hyperion. The pulses of young 
Titans beat within our veins. Time itself, — no 
longer frittered down into paltry divisions, — had 
assumed a more majestic aspect. We had the 
appetite of giants — was it unnatural we should 
also adopt " the large utterance of the early 
gods ? " 



ONUNDER FIORD. 185 

As The Reine Hortense could not carry coals 
sufficient for the entire voyage we had set out 
upon, it had been arranged that the steamer 
Saxon should accompany her as a tender, and 
the Onunder Fiord, on the northwest coast of the 
island, had been appointed as the place of ren- 
dezvous. Suddenly wheeling round therefore to 
the right, we quitted the open sea, and dived 
down a long gray line of water that ran on as 
far as the eye could reach between two lofty 
ranges of porphyry and amygdaloid. The con- 
formation of these mountains was most curious : 
it looked as if the whole district was the effect 
of some prodigious crystallization, so geometrical 
was the outline of each particular hill, sometimes 
rising cube-like, or pentagonal, but more gener- 
ally built up into a perfect pyramid, with stairs 
mounting in equal gradations to the summit. 
Here and there the cone of the pyramid would 
be shaven off, leaving it flat-topped like a Baby- 
lonian altar or Mexican teocalli, and as the sun's 
level rays, — shooting across above our heads in 
golden rafters from ridge to ridge, — smote brighter 
on some loftier peak behind, you might almost 
fancy you beheld the blaze of sacrificial fires. 
The peculiar symmetrical appearance of these 
rocks arises from the fact of their being built 
up in layers of trap, alternating with Neptunian 



186 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

beds ; the disintegrating action of snow and frost 
on the more exposed strata having gradually 
carved their sides into flights of terraces. 

It is in these Neptunian beds that the famous 
surturbrand is found, a species of bituminous 
timber, black and shining like pitch-coal, but 
whether belonging to the common carboniferous 
system, or formed from ancient drift-wood, is still 
a point of dispute among the learned. In this 
neighbourhood considerable quantities both of 
zerlite and chabasite are also found, but gener- 
ally speaking, Iceland is less rich in minerals 
than one would suppose ; opal, calcedony, ame- 
thyst, malachite, obsidian, agate, and feldspar, 
being the principal. Of sulphur the supply is 
inexhaustible. 

After steaming down for several hours between 
these terraced hills, we at last reached the ex- 
tremity of the fiord, where we found The Saxon 
looking like a black sea-dragon coiled up at the 
bottom of his den. Up fluttered a signal to the 
mast-head of the corvette, and blowing off her 
steam, she wore round upon her heel, to watch 
the effects of her summons. As if roused by 
the challenge of an intruder, the sleepy monster 
seemed suddenly to bestir itself, and then pour- 
ing out volumes of sulphureous breath, set out 
with many an angry snort in pursuit of the rash 



SURTURBRAND. 187 

trembler of its solitude. At least, such I am sure 
might have been the notion of the poor peasant 
inhabitants of two or three cottages I saw scat- 
tered here and there along the loch, as — startled 
from their sleep, they listened to the stertorous 
breathing of the long snake-like ships, and 
watched them glide past with magic motion 
along the glassy surface of the water. Of course 
the novelty and excitement of all we had been 
witnessing had put sleep and bedtime quite out 
of our thoughts; but it was already six o'clock 
in the morning ; it would require a considerable 
time to get out of the fiord, and in a few hours 
after we should be within the Arctic circle, so 
that if we were to have any sleep at all — now 
was the time. Acting on these considerations, 
we all three turned in; and for the next half- 
dozen hours I lay dreaming of a great funeral 
among barren mountains, where white bears in 
peers' robes were the pall-bearers, and a sea- 
dragon chief-mourner. When we came on deck 
again, the northern extremity of Iceland lay 
leagues away on our starboard quarter, faintly 
swimming through the haze ; up overhead blazed 
the white sun, and below glittered the level sea, 
like a pale blue disk netted in silver lace. I 
seldom remember a brighter day; the thermom- 
eter was at 72°, and it really felt more as if we 



188 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

were crossing the line than entering the frigid 
zone. 

Animated by that joyous inspiration which 
induces them to make a fete of every thing, the 
French officers, it appeared, wished to organize 
a kind of carnival to inaugurate their arrival in 
Arctic waters, and by means of a piece of chalk 
and a huge black board displayed from the hur- 
ricane-deck of The Reine Hortense, an inquiry 
was made as to what suggestion I might have 
to offer in furtherance of this laudable object. 
With that poverty of invention and love of spirits 
which characterize my nation, I am obliged to 
confess that, after deep reflection, I was only 
able to answer, " Grog." But seeing an extra 
flag or two was being run up at each masthead 
of the Frenchman, the lucky idea occurred to 
me to dress The Foam in all her colours. The 
schooner's toilette accomplished, I went on board 
The Reine Hortense, and you cannot imagine 
any thing more fragile, graceful, or coquettish, 
than her appearance from the deck of the cor- 
vette, — as she courtesied and swayed herself on 
the bosom of the almost imperceptible swell, or 
flirted up the water with her curving bows. She 
really looked like a living little lady. 

But from all such complacent reveries I was 
soon awakened by the sound of a deep voice, 



LE PERE ARCTIQUE. 189 

proceeding apparently from the very bottom of 
the sea, which hailed the ship in the most author- 
itative manner, and imperiously demanded her 
name, where she was going, whom she carried, 
and whence she came ; to all which questions, a 
young lieutenant, standing with his hat off at 
the gangway, politely responded. Apparently 
satisfied on these points, our invisible interlo- 
cutor then announced his intention of coming 
on board. All the officers of the ship collected 
on the poop to receive him. 

In a few seconds more, amid the din of the 
most unearthly music, and surrounded by a bevy 
of hideous monsters, a white-bearded spectacled 
personage — clad in bear-skin, with a cocked hat 
over his left ear — presented himself in the gang- 
way, and handing to the officers of the watch an 
enormous board, on which was written 

« LE PERE ARCTIQUE," 

by way of visiting card, — proceeded to walk aft, 
and take the sun's altitude with what — as far as 
I could make out, seemed to be a plumber's 
wooden triangle. This preliminary operation 
having been completed, there then began a reg- 
ular riot all over the ship. The yards were sud- 
denly manned with red devils, black monkeys, 
and every kind of grotesque monster, while the 

9 * 



190 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

whole ship's company, officers and men promis- 
cuously mingled, danced the cancan upon deck. 
In order that the warmth of the day should not 
make us forget that we had arrived in his domin- 
ions, the Arctic father had stationed certain of 
his familiars in the tops, who, at stated intervals, 
flung down showers of hard peas, as typical of 
hail, while the powdering of each other's faces 
with handfuls of flour, could not fail to remind 
everybody on board that we had reached the 
latitude of snow. At the commencement of this 
noisy festival, I found myself standing on the 
hurricane deck, next to one of the grave savants 
attached to the expedition, who seemed to con- 
template the antics that were being played at his 
feet with that sad smile of indulgence with which 
Wisdom sometimes deigns to commiserate the 
gayety of Folly. Suddenly he disappeared from 
beside me, and the next that I saw or heard of 
him — he was hard at work pirouetting on the 
deck below with a red-tailed demon, and exhibit- 
ing in his steps a " verve " and a graceful audac- 
ity, which at Paris would have certainly ob- 
tained for him the honours of expulsion at the 
hands of the municipal authorities. The enter- 
tainment of the day concluded with a discourse 
delivered out of a windsail by the chaplain at- 
tached to the person of the Pere Arctique, which 



CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. 191 

was afterwards washed down by a cauldron full of 
grog, served out in bumpers to the several actors 
in this unwonted ceremonial. As the Prince had 
been good enough to invite us to dinner, instead 
of returning to the schooner, I spent the interme- 
diate hour in pacing the quarter-deck with Baron 
de la Ronciere, — the naval commander entrusted 
with the charge of the expedition. Like all the 
smartest officers in the French navy, he speaks 
English beautifully, and I shall ever remember 
with gratitude the cordiality with which he wel- 
comed me on board his ship, and the thoughtful 
consideration of his arrangements for the little 
schooner which he had taken in tow. At five 
o'clock, dinner was announced, and I question if 
so sumptuous a banquet has ever been served up 
before in that outlandish part of the world, embel- 
lished as it was by selections from the best operas 
played by the corps d'orchestre which had accom- 
panied the Prince from Paris. During the pauses 
of the music, the conversation naturally turned on 
the strange lands we were about to visit, and the 
best mode of spifflicating the white bears who 
were probably already shaking in their snow- 
shoes ; but alas ! while we were in the very act 
of exulting in our supremacy over these new 
domains, the stiffened finger of the Ice king was 
tracing in frozen characters a " Mene, mene, tekel 



192 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

upharsin" on the plate-glass of the cabin win- 
dows. During the last half hour, the thermom- 
eter had been gradually falling until it was nearly 
down to 32° ; a dense penetrating fog enveloped 
both the vessels — (The Saxon had long since 
dropped out of sight,) flakes of snow began float- 
ing slowly down, and a gelid breeze from the 
northwest told too plainly that we had reached 
the frontiers of the solid ice, though we were still 
a good hundred miles distant from the American 
shore. Although at any other time the terrible 
climate we had dived into would have been very 
depressing, under present circumstances I think 
the change rather tended to raise our spirits, 
perhaps because the idea of fog and ice in the 
month of June seemed so completely to uncock- 
neyfy us. At all events, there was no doubt now 
we had got into les mers glaciales, as our French 
friends called them, and — whatever else might be 
in store for us, there was sure henceforth to be 
no lack of novelty and excitement. 

By this time it was already well on in the eve- 
ning, so — having agreed with Monsieur de la 
Ronciere on a code of signals in case of fogs, 
and that a jack hoisted at the mizen of The 
Reine Hortense, or at the fore of the schooner, 
should be an intimation of a desire of one or 
other to cast off, — we got into the boat and 



ice. 193 

were dropped down alongside our own ship. 
Ever since leaving Iceland the steamer had been 
heading east-northeast by compass, but during 
the whole of the ensuing night she shaped a 
southeast course ; the thick mist rendering it 
unwise to stand on any longer in the direction of 
the banquise^ as they call the outer edge of the 
belt that hems in eastern Greenland. About 
three a.m. it cleared up a little. By breakfast- 
time the sun reappeared, and we could see five 
or six miles ahead of the vessel. It was shortly 
after this, that as I was standing in the main 
rigging peering out over the smooth blue surface 
of the sea, a white twinkling point of light sud- 
denly caught my eye about a couple of miles off 
on the port bow, which a telescope soon resolved 
into a solitary isle of ice, dancing and dipping 
in the sunlight. As you may suppose, the news 
brought everybody upon deck ; and when almost 
immediately afterwards a string of other pieces 
— glittering like a diamond necklace — hove in 
sight, the excitement was extreme. 

Here at all events was honest blue salt water 
frozen solid, and when — as we proceeded — the 
scattered fragments thickened, and passed like 
silver argosies on either hand, until at last we 
found ourselves enveloped in an innumerable 
fleet of bergs, — it seemed as if we could never 



194 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

be weary of admiring a sight so strange and 
beautiful. It was rather in form and colour than 
in size that these ice islets were remarkable ; 
any thing approaching to a real iceberg we 
neither saw, nor are we likely to see. In fact, 
the lofty ice mountains that wander like vagrant 
islands along the coast of America, seldom or 
never come to the eastward or northward of 
Cape Farewell. They consist of land ice, and 
are all generated among bays and straits within 
Baffin's Bay, and first enter the Atlantic a good 
deal to the southward of Iceland ; whereas the 
Polar ice, among which we have been knocking 
about, is field ice, and — except when packed one 
ledge above the other, by great pressure — is com- 
paratively flat. I do not think I saw any pieces 
that were piled up higher than thirty or thirty- 
five feet above the sea-level, although at a little 
distance through the mist they may have loomed 
much loftier. 

In quaintness of form, and in brilliancy of 
colours, these wonderful masses surpassed every 
thing I had imagined ; and we found endless 
amusement in watching their fantastic proces- 
sion. 

At one time it was a knight on horseback, 
clad in sapphire mail, a white plume above his 
casque. Or a cathedral window with shafts of 



MIST AND ICE. 195 

chrysophras, new powdered by a snow-storm. 
Or a smooth sheer cliff of lapis lazuli; or a 
Banyan tree, with roots descending from its 
branches, and a foliage as delicate as the efflor- 
escence of molten metal ; or a fairy dragon, that 
breasted the water in scales of emerald ; or any 
thing else that your fancy chose to conjure up. 
After a little time, the mist again descended 
on the scene, and dulled each glittering form to 
a shapeless mass of white ; while in spite of all 
our endeavours to keep upon our northerly 
course, we were constantly compelled to turn 
and wind about in every direction — sometimes 
standing on for several hours at a stretch to the 
southward and eastward. These perpetual em- 
barrassments became at length very wearying, 
and in order to relieve the tedium of our progress 
I requested the Doctor to remove one of my 
teeth. This he did with the greatest ability — 
a wrench to starboard, — another to port, — and up 
it flew through the cabin sky-light. 

During the whole of that afternoon and the 
following night we made but little Northing at 
all, and the next day the ice seemed more perti- 
naciously in our way than ever ; neither could we 
relieve the monotony of the hours by conversing 
with each other on the black boards, as the mist 
was too thick for us to distinguish from on board 



196 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

one ship any thing that was passing on the deck 
of the other. Notwithstanding the great care 
and skill with which the steamer threaded her 
way among the loose floes, it was impossible 
sometimes to prevent fragments of ice striking 
us with considerable violence on the bows ; and 
as we lay in bed at night, I confess that until 
we got accustomed to the noise, it was by no 
means a pleasant thing to hear the pieces an- 
grily scraping along the ship's sides — within two 
inches of our ears. On the evening of the fourth 
day it came on to blow pretty hard, and at mid- 
night it had freshened to half a gale ; but by dint 
of standing well away to the eastward we had 
succeeded in reaching comparatively open water, 
and I had gone to bed in great hopes that at all 
events the breeze would brush off the fog, and 
enable us to see our way a little more clearly 
the next morning. 

At five o'clock a.m. the officer of the watch 
jumped down into my cabin, and awoke me 
with the news — " That the Frenchman was 
a-saying summat on his black board!" Feel- 
ing by the motion that a very heavy sea must 
have been knocked up during the night, I be- 
gan to be afraid that something must have gone 
wrong with the towing-gear, or that a hawser 
might have become entangled in the corvette's 



MIST AND ICE. 197 

screw — which was the catastrophe of which I 
had always been most apprehensive ; so slipping 
into a pair of fur boots, which I carefully kept 
by the bedside in case of an emergency, and 
throwing a fur cloak over — 

" Le simple appareil 
D'une beaute qu'on vient d'arracher au sommeil," 

I caught hold of a telescope, and tumbled up on 
deck. Any thing more bitter and disagreeable 
than the icy blast, which caught me round the 
waist as I emerged from the companion — I never 
remember. With both hands occupied in level- 
ling the telescope, I could not keep the wind 
from blowing the loose wrap quite off my shoul- 
ders, and except for the name of the thing, I 
might just as well have been standing in my 
shirt. Indeed, I was so irresistibly struck with 
my own resemblance to a coloured print I re- 
member in youthful days, — representing that 
celebrated character " Puss in Boots," with a 
purple robe of honour streaming far behind him 
on the wind, to express the velocity of his magi- 
cal progress — that I laughed aloud while I shiv- 
ered in the blast. What with the spray and 
mist, moreover, it was a good ten minutes before 
I could make out the writing, and when at last I 
did spell out the letters, their meaning was not 



198 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

very inspiriting : " Nous retournons a Reyk- 
javik ! " So evidently they had given it up as 
a bad job, and had come to the conclusion that 
the island was inaccessible. Yet it seemed very 
hard to have to turn back, after coming so far ! 
we had already made upwards of 300 miles since 
leaving Iceland : it could not be much above 120 
or 130 more to Jan May en ; and although things 
looked unpromising, there still seemed such a 
chance of success, that I could not find it in my 
heart to give in ; so — having run up a jack at 
the fore — (all writing on our board was out of 
the question, we were so deluged with spray) — I 
jumped down to wake Fitzgerald and Sigurdr, 
and tell them we were going to cast off, in case 
they had any letters to send home. In the mean 
time, I scribbled a line of thanks and good 
wishes to M. de la Ronciere, and another to you, 
and guyed it with our mails on board the cor- 
vette — in a milk-can. 

In the mean time all was bustle on board our 
decks, and I think every one was heartily pleased 
at the thoughts of getting the little schooner 
again under canvas. A couple of reefs were 
hauled down in the mainsail and staysail, and 
every thing got ready for making sail. 

" Is all clear for'ard for slipping, Mr. Wyse ? " 

" Ay, ay, Sir ; all clear ! " 



ALONE IN THE ARTIC SEA. 199 

" Let go the tow-ropes ! " 

" All gone, Sir ! " 

And down went the heavy hawsers into the 
sea, up fluttered the staysail, — then — poising for 
a moment on the waves with the startled hesita- 
tion of a bird suddenly set free, — the little crea- 
ture spread her wings, thrice dipped her ensign 
in token of adieu — receiving in return a hearty 
cheer from the French crew — and glided like a 
phantom into the North, while The Reine Hor- 
tense puffed back to Iceland.* 

Ten minutes more, and we were the only deni- 
zens of that misty sea. I confess I felt exces- 
sively sorry to have lost the society of such 
joyous companions ; they had received us al- 
ways with such merry good nature ; the Prince 
had shown himself so gracious and considerate, 
and he was surrounded by a staff of such clever, 

* It subsequently appeared that The Saxon, on the second 
day after leaving Onunder Fiord, had unfortunately knocked 
a hole in her bottom against the ice, and was obliged to run 
ashore in a sinking state. In consequence of never having 
been rejoined by her tender, The Reine Hortense found her- 
self short of coals, and as the incumbered state of the sea 
rendered it already very unlikely that any access would be 
found open to the island, M. de la Ronciere very properly 
judged it advisable to turn back. He reentered the Reyk- 
javik harbour without so much as a shovelful of coals left on 
board. 



200 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

well-informed persons, that it was with the deep- 
est regret I watched the fog close round the 
magnificent corvette, and bury her — and all 
whom she contained — within its bosom. Our 
own situation, too, was not altogether without 
causing me a little anxiety. We had not seen 
the sun for two days ; it was very thick, with a 
heavy sea, and dodging about as we had been 
among the ice, at the heels of the steamer, our 
dead reckoning was not very much to be de- 
pended upon. The best plan I thought would 
be to stretch away at once clear of the ice, then 
run up into the latitude of Jan Mayen, and — as 
soon as we should have reached the parallel of 
its northern extremity — bear down on the land. 
If there was any access at all to the island, it 
was very evident it would be on its northern or 
eastern side ; and now that we were alone, to 
keep on knocking up through a hundred miles or 
so of ice in a thick fog — in our fragile schooner, 
would have been out of the question. 

The ship's course, therefore, having been shaped 
in accordance with this view, I stole back into 
bed and resumed my violated slumbers. Towards 
mid-day the weather began to moderate, and by 
four o'clock we were skimming along on a 
smooth sea, with all sails set. This state of 
prosperity continued for the next twenty-four 



ALONE IN THE ARCTIC SEA. 201 

hours; we had made about eighty knots since 
parting company with the Frenchman, and it 
was now time to run down West and pick up 
the land. Luckily the sky was pretty clear, and 
as we sailed on through open water I really 
began to think our prospects very brilliant. But 
about three o'clock on the second day, specks of 
ice began to flicker here and there on the horizon, 
then larger bulks came floating by in forms as 
picturesque as ever — (one, I particularly remem- 
ber, a human hand thrust up out of the water 
with outstretched forefinger, as if to warn us 
against proceeding farther), until at last the 
whole sea became clouded with hummocks that 
seemed to gather on our path in magical multi- 
plicity. 

Up to this time we had seen nothing of the 
island, yet I knew we must be within a very few 
miles of it ; and now, to make things quite pleas- 
ant, there descended upon us a thicker fog than I 
should have thought the atmosphere capable of 
sustaining; it seemed to hang in solid festoons 
from the masts and spars. To say that you could 
not see your hand, ceased almost to be any longer 
figurative ; even the ice was hid — except those 
fragments immediately adjacent, whose ghastly 
brilliancy the mist itself could not quite extin- 
guish, as they glimmered round the vessel like 



202 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

a circle of luminous phantoms. The perfect still- 
ness of the sea and sky added very much to the 
solemnity of the scene ; almost every breath of 
wind had fallen, scarcely a ripple tinkled against 
the copper sheathing, as the solitary little schooner 
glided along at the rate of half a knot or so an 
hour, and the only sound we heard was a distant 
wash of waters, but whether on a great shore, or 
along a belt of solid ice, it was impossible to say. 
In such weather — as the original discoverers of 
Jan Mayen said under similar circumstances — " it 
was easier to hear land than to see it" Thus, 
hour after hour passed by and brought no change. 
Fitz and Sigurdr — who had begun quite to disbe- 
lieve in the existence of the island — w T ent to bed, 
while I remained pacing up and down the deck, 
anxiously questioning each quarter of the gray 
canopy that enveloped us. At last, about four in 
the morning, I fancied some change was going to 
take place ; the heavy wreaths of vapour seemed 
to be imperceptibly separating, and in a few min- 
utes more the solid roof of gray suddenly split 
asunder, and I beheld through the gap — thou- 
sands of feet overhead, as if suspended in the 
crystal sky — a cone of illuminated snow. 

You can imagine my delight. It was really 
that of an anchorite catching a glimpse of the 
seventh heaven. There at last was the long- 



THE LIFTING OF THE CURTAIN. 203 

sought-for mountain, actually tumbling down 
upon our heads. Columbus could not have been 
more pleased when — after nights of watching — 
he saw the first fires of a new hemisphere dance 
upon the water ; nor, indeed, scarcely less disap- 
pointed at their sudden disappearance than I was, 
when — -after having gone below to wake Sigurdr, 
and tell him we had seen bona fide terra firma, I 
found, on returning upon deck, that the roof of 
mist had closed again, and shut out all trace of 
the transient vision. However, I had got a clutch 
of the island, and no slight matter should make 
me let go my hold. In the mean time, there was 
nothing for it but to wait patiently until the cur- 
tain lifted ; and no child ever stared more eagerly 
at a green drop-scene, in expectation of "the 
lealm of dazzling splendor " promised in the bill, 
than I did at the motionless gray folds that hung 
round us. At last the hour of liberation came ; 
a purer light seemed gradually to penetrate the 
atmosphere, brown turned to gray, and gray to 
white, and white to transparent blue, until the 
lost horizon entirely reappeared, except where in 
one direction an impenetrable vale of haze still 
hung suspended from the zenith to the sea. Be- 
hind that veil I knew must lie Jan Mayen. 

A few minutes more, and slowly, silently, in a 
manner you could take no count of, its dusky 



204 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

hem first deepened to a violet tinge, then gradu- 
ally lifting, displayed a long line of coast— in 
reality but the roots of Beerenberg — dyed of the 
darkest purple ; while, obedient to a common im- 
pulse, the clouds that wrapt its summit gently 
disengaged themselves, and left the mountain 
standing in all the magnificence of his 6,870 feet, 
girdled by a single zone of pearly vapour, from 
underneath whose floating folds seven enormous 
glaciers rolled down into the sea ! Nature seemed 
to have turned scene-shifter, so artfully were the 
phases of this glorious spectacle successively de- 
veloped. 

Although — by reason of our having hit upon 
its side, instead of its narrow end — the outline of 
Mount Beerenberg appeared to us more like a 
sugar-loaf than a spire — broader at the base and 
rounder at the top than I had imagined, — in size, 
colour, and effect, it far surpassed any thing I 
had anticipated. The glaciers were quite an un- 
expected element of beauty. Imagine a mighty 
river of as great a volume as the Thames — 
started down the side of a mountain, — bursting 
over every impediment, — whirled into a thousand 
eddies, — tumbling and raging on from ledge to 
ledge in quivering cataracts of foam, — then sud- 
denly struck rigid by a power so instantaneous 
in its action, that even the froth and fleeting 



GLACIERS. 205 

wreaths of spray have stiffened to the immuta- 
bility of sculpture. Unless you had seen it, it 
would be almost impossible to conceive the 
strangeness of the contrast between the actual 
tranquillity of these silent crystal rivers, and the 
violent descending energy impressed upon their 
exterior. You must remember, too, all this is 
upon a scale of such prodigious magnitude, that 
when we succeeded subsequently in approaching 
the spot — where with a leap like that of Niagara 
one of these glaciers plunges down into the sea — 
the eye, no longer able to take in its fluvial char- 
acter, was content to rest in simple astonishment 
at what then appeared a lucent precipice of gray- 
green ice, rising to the height of several hundred 
feet above the masts of the vessel. 

As soon as we had got a little over our first 
feelings of astonishment at the panorama thus 
suddenly revealed to us by the lifting of the fog, 
I began to consider what would be the best way 
of getting to the anchorage on the west — or 
Greenland side of the island. We were still 
seven or eight miles from the shore, and the 
northern extremity of the island, round which we 
should have to pass, lay about five leagues off, 
bearing West by North, while between us and 
the land stretched a continuous breadth of float- 
ing ice. The hummocks, however, seemed to be 
10 



206 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

pretty loose, with openings here and there, so 
that with careful sailing I thought we might pass 
through, and perhaps on the farther side of the 
island come into a freer sea. Alas ! after having 
with some difficulty wound along until we were 
almost abreast of the cape, we were stopped dead 
short by a solid rampart of fixed ice, which in 
one direction leant upon the land, and in the 
other ran away as far as the eye could reach into 
the dusky North. Thus hopelessly cut off from 
all access to the western and better anchorage, it 
only remained to put about, and — running down 
along the land — attempt to reach a kind of open 
roadstead on the eastern side, a little to the south 
of the volcano described by Dr. Scoresby ; but in 
this endeavour also we were doomed to be disap- 
pointed ; for after sailing some considerable dis- 
tance through a field of ice, which kept getting 
more closely packed as we pushed further into it, 
we came upon another barrier equally impen- 
etrable, that stretched away from the island 
toward the Southward and Eastward. Under 
these circumstances, the only thing to be done 
was to get back to where the ice was looser, and 
attempt a landing wherever a favourable opening 
presented itself. But even to extricate ourselves 
from our present position, was now no longer of 
such easy performance. Within the last hour 



DIFFICULTIES. 207 

the wind had shifted into the Northwest ; that is 
to say, it was now blowing right down the path 
along which we had picked our way ; in order to 
return, therefore, it would be necessary to work 
the ship to windward through a sea as thickly 
crammed with ice as a lady's boudoir is with fur- 
niture. Moreover, it had become evident, from 
the obvious closing of the open spaces, that some 
considerable pressure was acting upon the out- 
side of the field ; but whether originating in a 
current or the change of wind, or another field 
being driven down upon it, I could not tell. Be 
that as it might, out we must get, — unless we 
wanted to be cracked like a walnut-shell between 
the drifting ice and the solid belt to leeward ; so 
sending a steady hand to the helm, — for these 
unusual phenomena had begun to make some of 
my people lose their heads a little, . no one on 
board having ever seen a bit of ice before, — I 
stationed myself in the bows, while Mr. Wyse 
conned the vessel from the square yard. Then 
there began one of the prettiest and most excit- 
ing pieces of nautical manceuvering that can be 
imagined. Every single soul on board was sum- 
moned upon deck; to all, their several stations 
and duties were assigned — always excepting the 
cook, who was merely directed to make himself 
generally useful. As soon as everybody was 



208 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

ready, down went the helm, — about came the 
ship, — and the critical part of the business com- 
menced. Of course, in order to wind and twist 
the schooner in and out among the devious chan- 
nels left between the hummocks, it was necessary 
she should have considerable way on her; at the 
same time, so narrow were some of the passages, 
and so sharp their turnings, that unless she had 
been the most handy vessel in the world, she 
would have had a very narrow squeak for it. I 
never saw any thing so beautiful as her behaviour. 
Had she been a living creature, she could not 
have dodged, and wound, and doubled, with more 
conscious cunning and dexterity ; and it was 
quite amusing to hear the endearing way in 
which the people spoke to her, each time the 
nimble creature contrived to elude some more 
than usually threatening tongue of ice. Once or 
twice, in spite of all our exertions, it was impos- 
sible to save her from a collision; all that re- 
mained to be done, as soon as it became evident 
she could not clear some particular floe, or go 
about in time to avoid it, was to haul the stay- 
sail sheet a-weather in order to deaden her way 
as much as possible, and, putting the helm down, 
let her go right at it, so that she should receive 
the blow on her stem, and not on the bluff of the 
bow ; while all hands, armed with spars and 



THE COOK DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF. 209 

fenders, rushed forward to ease off the shock. 
And here I feel it just to pay a tribute of admi- 
ration to the cook, who on these occasions never 
failed to exhibit an immense amount of misdi- 
rected energy, breaking, I remember, at the same 
moment, both the cabin skylight and an oar, in 
single combat with a large berg, that was doing 
no particular harm to us, but against which he 
seemed suddenly to have conceived a violent spite. 
Luckily a considerable quantity of snow overlay 
the ice, which, acting as a buffer, in some measure 
mitigated the violence of the concussion ; while 
the very fragility of her build diminishing the 
momentum, proved in the end the little schooner's 
greatest security. Nevertheless, I must confess 
that more than once, while leaning forward in 
expectation of the scrunch I knew must come, I 
have caught myself half murmuring to the fair 
face that seemed to gaze so serenely at the cold 
white mass we were approaching : " O Lady, is 
it not now fit thou shouldest befriend the good 
ship of which thou art the pride ? " 

At last, after having received two or three 
pretty severe bumps, — though the loss of a lit- 
tle copper was the only damage they entailed, — 
we made our way back to the northern end of the 
island, where the pack was looser, and we had at 
all events a little more breathing-room. 



210 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

It had become very cold ; — so cold, indeed, that 
Mr. Wyse — no longer able to keep a clutch of the 
rigging — had a severe tumble from the yard on 
which he was standing. The wind was freshen- 
ing, and the ice was evidently still in motion ; 
but although very anxious to get back again into 
open water, we thought it would not do to go 
away without landing, even if it were only for an 
hour. So having laid the schooner right under 
the cliff, and putting into the gig our old dis- 
carded figure-head, a white ensign, a flag-staff, 
and a tin biscuit-box, containing a paper on 
which I had hastily written the schooner's name, 
the date of her arrival, and the names of all those 
who sailed on board, — we pulled ashore. A rib- 
bon of beach not more than fifteen yards wide, 
composed of iron-sand, augite, and pyroxene, 
running along under the basaltic precipice — up- 
wards of a thousand feet high — which serves as 
a kind of plinth to the mountain, was the only 
standing room this part of the coast afforded. 
With considerable difficulty, and after a good 
hour's climb, we succeeded in dragging the 
figure-head we had brought ashore with us, up 
a sloping patch of snow, which lay in a crevice 
of the cliff, and thence a little higher, to a natural 
pedestal formed by a broken shaft of rock ; where 
— after having tied the tin box round her neck, 



A WOODEN ARIADNE. 211 

and duly planted the white ensign of St. George 
beside her, — we left the superseded damsel, some- 
what grimly smiling across the frozen ocean at her 
feet, until some Bacchus of a bear should come to 
relieve the loneliness of my wooden Ariadne. 

On descending to the water's edge, we walked 
some little distance along the beach without ob- 
serving any thing very remarkable, unless it were 
the network of vertical and horizontal dikes of 
basalt which shot in every direction through the 
scoriae and conglomerate of which the cliffs seem- 
ed to be composed. Innumerable sea-birds sat in 
the crevices and ledges of the uneven surface, or 
flew about us with such confiding curiosity, that 
by reaching out my hand I could touch their 
wings as they poised themselves in the air along- 
side. There was one old sober-sides with whom 
I passed a good ten minutes tete-d-tete, trying 
who could stare the other out of countenance. 

It was now high time to be off. As soon then 
as we had collected some geological specimens, 
and duly christened the little cove, at the bottom 
of which we had landed, " Clandeboye Creek," — 
we walked back to the gig. But — so rapidly 
was the ice drifting down upon the island, — we 
found it had already become doubtful whether 
we should not have to carry the boat over the 
patch which — during the couple of hours we had 



212 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

spent on shore — had almost cut her off from ac- 
cess to the water. If this was the case with the 
gig, it was very evident the quicker we got the 
schooner out to sea again the better. So imme- 
diately we returned on board, having first fired a 
gun in token of adieu to the desolate land we 
should never again set foot on, the ship was put 
about, and our task of working out towards the 
open water recommenced. As this operation was 
likely to require some time, directly breakfast 
was over, (it was now about eleven o'clock, a. m.,) 
and after a vain attempt had been made to take 
a photograph of the mountain, which the mist 
was again beginning to envelop, I turned in to 
take a nap, which I rather needed, fully expecting 
that by the time I awoke we should be beginning 
to get pretty clear of the pack. On coming on 
deck, however, four hours later, although we had 
reached away a considerable distance from the 
land, and had even passed the spot where — the 
day before — the sea was almost free, — the floes 
seemed closer than ever ; and, what was worse, 
from the mast-head not a vestige of open water 
was to be discovered. On every side, as far as 
the eye could reach, there stretched over the sea 
one cold white canopy of ice. 

The prospect of being beset, in so slightly 
built a craft, was — to say the least — unpleasant ; 



NO OPEN WATER VISIBLE. 213 

it looked very much as if fresh packs were driv- 
ing down upon us from the very direction in 
which we were trying to push out, yet it had 
become a matter of doubt which course it would 
be best to steer. To remain stationary, was out 
of the question ; the pace at which the fields drift 
is sometimes very rapid,* and the first nip would 
settle the poor little schooner's business for ever. 
At the same time, it was quite possible that any 
progress we succeeded in making, instead of 
tending towards her liberation, might perhaps be 
only getting her deeper into the scrape. One 
thing was very certain, — Northing or Southing 
might be an even chance, but whatever Easting- 
we could make must be to the good ; so I deter- 

* Dr. Scoresby states that the invariable tendency of fields 
of ice is to drift south-westward, and that the strange effects 
produced by their occasional rapid motions, is one of the most 
striking objects the Polar Seas present, and certainly the 
most terrific. They frequently acquire a rotary motion, 
whereby their circumference attains a velocity of several 
miles an hour ; and it is scarcely possible to conceive the 
consequences produced by a body, exceeding ten thousand 
million tons in weight, coming in contact with another under 
such circumstances. The strongest ship is but an insignificant 
impediment between two fields in motion. Numbers of whale 
vessels have thus been destroyed ; some have been thrown 
upon the ice; some have had their hulls completely torn 
open, or divided in two, and others have been overrun by the 

ice, and buried beneath its heaped fragments. 
10* 



214 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

mined to choose whichever vein seemed to have 
most Easterly direction in it. Two or three 
openings of this sort from time to time pre- 
sented themselves ; but in every case, after fol- 
lowing them a certain distance, they proved to 
be but cul-de-sacs, and we had to return discom- 
fitted. My great hope was in a change of wind. 
It was already blowing very fresh from the north- 
ward and eastward ; and if it w r ould but shift a 
few points, in all probability the ice would loosen 
as rapidly as it had collected. In the mean time, 
the only thing to do was to keep a sharp look- 
out, sail the vessel carefully, and take advantage 
of every chance of getting to the eastward. 

It now grew colder than ever, — the distant 
land was almost hid with fog, — tattered, dingy 
clouds came crowding over the heavens, — while 
Wilson moved uneasily about the deck, with the 
air of Cassandra at the conflagration of Troy. It 
was Sunday, the 14th of July, and I had a mo- 
mentary fancy that I could hear the sweet church 
bells in England pealing across the cold, white 
flats which surrounded us. At last, about five 
o'clock p.m., the wind shifted a point or two, 
then flew round into the southeast. Not long 
after, just as I had expected, the ice evidently 
began to loosen, — a promising opening was re- 
ported from the mast-head a mile or so away on 



EXTRICATED. 215 

the port-bow, and by nine o'clock we were spank- 
ing along, at the rate of eight knots an hour, 
under a double-reefed mainsail and staysail — 
down a continually widening channel, between 
two wave-lashed ridges of drift ice. Before mid- 
night, we had regained the open sea, and were 
standing away 

" to Norroway, 
To Norroway, over the faem." 

In the forenoon I had been too busy to have our 
usual Sunday church ; but as soon as we were 
pretty clear of the ice, I managed to have a short 
service in the cabin. 

Of our run to Hammerfest, I have nothing 
particular to say. The distance is eight hundred 
miles, and we did it in eight days. On the 
whole, the weather was pretty fair, though cold, 
and often foggy. One day, indeed, was perfectly 
lovely, — the one before we made the coast of 
Lapland, — without a cloud to be seen for the 
space of twenty-four hours ; giving me an oppor- 
tunity of watching the sun performing his com- 
plete circle overhead, and taking a meridian alti- 
tude at midnight. We were then in 70° 25' 
North latitude ; L e., almost as far north as the 
North Cape; yet the thermometer had been up 
to 80° during the afternoon. 

Shortly afterwards, the fog came on again, and 



216 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

next morning it was blowing very hard from the 
eastward. This was the more disagreeable, as it 
is always very difficult, under the most favour- 
able circumstances, to find one's way into any 
harbour along this coast, fenced off, as it is from 
the ocean by a complicated outwork of lofty 
islands, which, in their turn, are hemmed in by 
nests of sunken rocks, sown as thick as peas, for 
miles to seaward. There are no pilots until you 
are within the islands, and no longer want them, 
— no lighthouses or beacons of any sort ; and all 
that you have to go by is the shape of the hill- 
tops ; but as, on the clearest day, the outlines of 
the mountains have about as much variety as the 
teeth of a saw, and as, on a cloudy day, which 
happens about seven times a week, you see noth- 
ing but the line of their dark roots, — the unfor- 
tunate mariner, who goes poking about for the 
narrow passage which is to lead him between the 
islands, — at the back of one of which a pilot is 
waiting for him, — will, in all probability, have 
already placed his vessel in a position to render 
that functionary's further attendance a work of 
supererogation. At least, I know it was as much 
surprise as pleasure that I experienced, when — 
after having with many misgivings ventured to 
slip through an opening in the monotonous barri- 
cade of mountains, we found it was the right 



HAMMERFEST. 217 

channel to our port. If the king of all the Goths 
would only stick up a lighthouse here and there 
along the edge of his Arctic seaboard, he would 
save many an honest fellow a heartache. 

I must now finish this long letter. 

Hammerfest is scarcely worthy of my wast- 
ing paper on it. When I tell you that it is the 
most northerly town in Europe, I think I have 
mentioned its only remarkable characteristic. It 
stands on the edge of an enormous sheet of 
water, completely landlocked by three islands, 
and consists of a congregation of wooden houses, 
plastered up against a steep mountain ; some of 
which being built on piles, give the notion of the 
place having slipped down off the hill half-way 
into the sea. Its population is so and so, — its 
chief exports this and that ; for all which see Mr. 
Murray's " Hand-book," where you will find all 
such matters much more clearly and correctly 
set down than I am likely to state them. At 
all events, it produces milk, cream — not butter — 
salad, and bad potatoes; which is what we are 
most interested in at present. To think that 
you should be all revelling this very moment in 
green-peas and cauliflowers ! I hope you don't 
forget your grace before dinner. 

I will write to you again before setting sail for 
Spitzbergen. 



LETTER IX. 

EXTRACT FROM THE "MONITEUR " OF THE 31ST JULY. 

I have received a copy of the " Moniteur" of 
the 31st July, containing so graphic an account 
of the voyage of The Heine Hortense towards 
Jan Mayen, and of the catastrophe to her tender 
The Saxon, — in consequence of which the cor- 
vette was compelled to abandon her voyage to 
the Northward, — that I must forward it to you. 

" Exploration de la Banquise an Nord de VIslande 
par la ' Reine-Hortense.' * 

" H appartenait a un officier de la marine fran- 
chise, M. Jules de Blosseville, d'en tenter Pex- 
ploration et d'illustrer ces parages eloignes, autant 
par ses decouvertes que par sa fin tragique et 
premature. Au printemps de 1833, a la suite 
d'un d£gel, la Lilloise, que commandait cet in- 
trepide marin, put traverser la Banquise aux 
environs du 69 e degre et relever au sud de cette 
latitude environ trente lieues de c6tes. Revenu 

* For Translation, see Appendix. 



EXTRACT FROM THE " MONITEUR." 219 

dans les parages de l'Islande, il repartit en juil- 
let pour une seeonde campagne. Depuis cette 
£poque la Lilloise n'a plus reparu. Le secret de 
son naufrage est reste enfoui au fond de la mer, 
bien que, dans les poetiques et sauvages fiords 
du nord de l'Islande, Pimagination du pecheur 
se soit obstin^e longtemps a reconnaitre, dans 
chaque £pave jet£e sur la cote, un debris du 
navire du navigateur fran9ais. 

" L'annee suivante, la Bordelaise, envoyee a la 
recherche de la Lilloise, trouva tout le nord de 
l'Islande engage dans la Banquise, et revint apres 
avoir 6t6 arretee par les glaces a la hauteur du 
cap Nord. 

" Le voyage aux colonies danoises de la c6te 
occidentale (de Groenland) faisant partie du pro- 
gramme de notre navigation arctique, nous sa- 
vions, a notre depart de Paris, devoir faire une 
ample connaissance avec la partie m^ridionale de 
la Banquise pendant la traversee de Reykjavik 
au cap Farewell. Mais pendant notre relache a 
Peterhead, le grand port d'armement des navires 
destines a la peche du phoque, le Prince et le 
commandant de la Ronciere recueillirent des ren- 
seignements precieux sur l'etat actuel des glaces 
en interrogeant les pecheurs revenus de leur cam- 
pagne du printemps. lis apprirent d'eux que 
cette annee la navigation etait completement libre 



220 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

autour de PIslande; que la Banquise, s'appuyant 
sur Jean Mayen et Pentourant d'une ceinture de 
vingt lieues d'epaisseur descendait au sud-ouest 
le long de la cote du Groenland, mais sans fermer 
le canal que separe cette cote de celle de PIslande. 
Ces circonstances inesp£r6es ouvraient un champ 
nouveau a nos explorations, en nous permettant 
de relever toute la partie de la Banquise qui 
s'etend au nord de PIslande, pour faire suite au 
travail de la Recherche et a celui que nous nous 
promettions de faire nous-memes pendant notre 
voyage au Groenland. La tentation etait trop 
grande pour que le Prince put y resister, et le 
commandant de la Ronciere n'etait pas homme a 
laisser echapper une idee qui s'offrait a lui avec 
les caracteres de la hardiesse et de la nouveaute. 

" Mais les difficultes de Pentreprise etaient s£- 
rieuses et d'une nature telle, qu'il faut avoir 
quelques habitudes de la navigation pour les 
appr^cier. La Reine-Hortense est un charmant 
batiment de plaisance, mais qui ne presente que 
bien pen des conditions n^cessaires pour une 
longue navigation, et aucune des conditions n£ces- 
saires pour une longue navigation dans les glaces. 
La soute a charbon ne peut recevoir qu'un appro- 
visionnement de six jonrs, et la soute a eau qu'un 
approvisionnement de trois semaines. Quant a 
la voilure, on peut dire que la corvette n'est mat£e 



221 

que pour la forme, et que sans la vapeur elle est 
incapable de fournir une marche r£guliere et sou- 
tenue. Ajoutons que le batiment est en fer, c'est- 
a-dire qu'une feuille de tole de deux centimetres 
d^paisseur constitue tout son bordage, et que 
son pont, perce de douze grands panneaux, est 
tellement faible, qu'il a ete juge incapable de 
porter Partillerie que le navire devait recevoir en 
raison de son tonnage. 

" On sait que le Oocyte avait ete mis pareille- 
ment a la disposition de S. A. I. le Prince Napo- 
leon. Ce batiment, arrive en rade de Reykjavik 
le meme jour que nous, 30 juin, est une corvette 
a vapeur et a roues, tenant bien la mer, portant 
douze jours de charbon, mais d'une lenteur de 
marche deplorable. 

" Nous avons trouv£, en outre, a Reykjavik, la 
gabaire de PEtat la Perdrix et deux vapeurs de 
commerce anglais, le Tasmania et le Saxon, noli- 
ses par le ministere de la marine pour porter en 
Islande le charbon necessaire pour notre voyage 
au Groenland. Ces cinq batiments formaient, 
avec la fregate PArthemise, charg^e du service 
de la station, la flottille la plus considerable que la 
capitale de PIslande eut jamais vue rassemblee 
dans sa rade. 

" Malheureusement, ces elements varies et nom- 
breux ne pr^sentaient aucune homogeneity et le 



222 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

commandant de la Ronciere reconnut bientot que 
tout concours etranger ne nous apporterait que 
des embarras certains pour prix d'une surete 
douteuse ; qu'enfin la Reine-Hortense, obligee de 
marcher vite, puisque son approvisionnement lui 
defendait de marcher longtemps, n'avait a comp- 
ter que sur elle-meme. Cependant le capitaine 
du Saxon, montrant un grand desir de visiter les 
parages du nord et y mettant une sorte d'amour- 
propre national, promettant, d'ailleurs, une marche 
moyenne de sept nceuds, il fut decide qu'a tout 
hasard ce navire partirait en meme temps que 
la Reine-Hortense, dont il pourrait renouveler la 
provision de charbon, dans Peventualite, fort dou- 
teuse il est vrai, d'un atterrissement sur Tile de 
Jean Mayen et d'un mouillage convenable. Au 
reste, la Reine-Hortense, au moyen d'un charge- 
ment supplementaire sur le pont, avait du char- 
bon pour huit jours, et des le depart, l'equipage 
devait etre rationne d'eau, ainsi que les passagers. 
"Quelques heures avant de lever Pancre, Pexpe- 
dition se completa par Padjonction d'un nouveau 
compagnon de voyage tout a fait inattendu. 
Nous avions trouve en rade de Reykjavik un 
yacht appartenant a Lord Dufferin. Voyant son 
vif desir de visiter les parages de Jean Mayen, le 
Prince lui proposa de faire donner la remorque a 
sa goelette par la Reine-Hortense. C'etait une 



EXTRACT FROM THE * MONITEUR." 223 

bonne fortune pour un chercheur d'aventures 
maritimes ; et une heure apres, la proposition ac- 
ceptee avec empressement, 1' Anglais s'amarrait 
par deux longs cables a Farriere de notre corvette. 

" Le 7 juillet 1856, a deux heures du matin, 
apres un bal donne par le commandant de Mas 
a bord de FArthemise, la Reine-Hortense et sa 
remorque quittent la rade de Reykjavik, se diri- 
geant, par la cote ouest de l'Islande, sur Onun- 
darfiord, ou nous devons rallier le Saxon, parti 
quelques heures avant nous. A neuf heures, les 
trois batiments, ayant le cap a Fest-nord-est, dou- 
blent la pointe du cap Nord ; a midi, le relev6 de 
la latitude nous place aux environs du 67 3 degr£ ; 
nous venons de franchir le cercle arctique. En 
ce moment, la temperature etait celle d'une belle 
journee de printemps, 10 degr^s centigrades; Fair 
etait d'une transparence et d'une purete admira- 
bles, le soleil ^clatant. On eut dit que la nature, 
comme pour faire parade de son in^puisable 
fecondite, se plaisait a nous ouvrir Fentr^e des re- 
gions polaires, ce sombre empire des tenebres et 
de la mort, par des splendeurs dignes des climats 
heureux ou elle prodigue la chaleur, la lumiere et 
la vie. 

" La Reine-Hortense ralentit sa marche. Une 
ligne filee le long d'une des amarres permet a 
Lord Dufferin de haler une de ses embarcations 



224 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

jusqu'a la corvette. II vient diner avec nous et 
assister a la ceremonie du passage du cercle po- 
laire. Quant au Saxon, le commandanl de la 
Eonciere reconnait en ce moment que le brave 
Anglais a trop presume de ses forces. II est de- 
cid^ment incapable de nous suivre. Le com- 
mandant lui fait signe de naviguer pour son 
propre compte, de tacher de gagner Jean Mayen, 
et, s'il ne peut y reussir, de se diriger sur Onun- 
darfiord et de nous y attendre. BientSt, en effet, 
le batiment anglais cesse de naviguer dans nos 
eaux ; sa coque disparait d'abord, puis sa voilure; 
le soir, la trace de sa fumee s'est evanouie a 
l'horizon. 

" Cependant, dans la soiree, la temperature de 
l'air s'est abaissee graduellement ; celle de l'eau 
a eprouve un changement plus rapide et plus sig- 
nificatif encore. A minuit elle n'est plus que de 
3 degres. A ce moment, le navire entre dans 
une couche de brume dont la permanence du 
jour, sous cette latitude et a cette epoque de 
l'annee, permet d'apprecier toute l'intensite. A 
ces signes, il n'est pas douteux que nous ap- 
prochons des glaces fixes. En effet, a deux 
heures du matin, l'officier de quart apercjoit tout 
aupres du navire un troupeau de phoques, ces 
habitants de la Banquise. Quelques minutes 
plus tard, la brume s'eclaircit tout a coup, un 



EXTRACT FROM THE " MONITEUR." 225 

rayon de soleil glisse sur la surface de la mer et 
fait scintiller jusqu'aux dernieres limites de Pho- 
rizon des myriades de points d'une blancheur 
6clatante. Ce sont les glaces detachees qui pre- 
cedent et annoncent la Banquise. Elles aug- 
mentent de nombre et de volume a mesure que 
nous continuons notre route. A trois heures de 
Papres-midi, nous nous trouvons en presence 
d'un banc de glaces continu, qui ferme la mer 
devant nous. II nous faut sortir de notre route 
pour nous degager des glaces qui nous entourent. 
C'est la une manoeuvre qui demande de la part 
du commandant une grande surete de coup 
d'oeil et une connaissance parfaite de la qualite 
de son navire. La Reine-Hortense marchant a 
demi-vapeur, tous ses officiers et son equipage 
sur le pont, se glisse entre les blocs de glace 
qu'elle parait raser et dont le plus petit la ferait 
couler a pic si Pabordage avait lieu. Un autre 
danger, qu'il est presque impossible de conjurer, 
menace le navire dans ces moments difficiles. 
Qu'un fragment de gla^on s'engage sous Phelice, 
elle sera infailliblement brisee comme verre, et 
les suites d'un pareil accident peuvent etre funes- 
tes. La petite goelette anglaise nous sit brave- 
ment, bondissant dans notre sillage, n'evitant 
que par une surveillance continue et de vigour- 
eux coups de barre les glagons que nous avons 
depasses. 



226 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" Mais les difficulties de cette navigation, lorsque 
le temps est clair, ne sont rien en comparaison de 
celles qu'elle presente pendant ]a brume. Alors, 
malgre le ralentissement de la marche, il faut 
presque autant de bonheur que d'adresse pour 
eviter les abordages. C'est ainsi qu'aprSs etre 
sortis des glaces une premiere fois, et avoir 
repris notre route a Pest-nord-est, nous nous som- 
mes trouves tout a coup, vers les deux heures de 
cette meme journee du 9, a un quart de mille de 
la Banquise, que la brume cachait a nos regards. 
En general la Banquise, cotoyee par nous pend- 
ant trois jours, et relevee avec le plus grand soin 
sur une Vendue de pres de cent lieues, nous a 
presente une cote irreguliere courant de Pouest- 
sud-ouest a Pest-nord-est, et, poussant vers le sud, 
des caps ou promontoires d'une saillie variable, 
assez bien represents s par les dents d'une scie. 
Toutes les fois que nous faisions notre route a 
Pest-nord-est, nous ne tardions pas a nous enga- 
ger dans un des golfes de glace formes par les 
dentelures de la Banquise. C'etait en mettant 
le cap au sud-ouest que nous nous d^gagions 
des glacons flottants, pour reprendre notre pre- 
miere direction aussitot que la mer devenait 
libre. 

" Cependant, a mesure que nous avancions 
vers le nord, la brume devenait plus epaisse, le 



EXTRACT FROM THE " MONITEUR." 227 

froid plus intense (2 degres centigrades au-des- 
sous de zero). La neige tourbillonnait au milieu 
des rafales du vent, et s'abattait en larges nappes 
sur le pont. Les glaces avaient pris un autre 
aspect et affectaient ces formes et ces couleurs 
fantastiques et terribles que la peinture a rendues 
populaires. Tantot elles s'elevaient commes des 
pics couverts de neige, creuses de vallees vertes 
ou bleues ; le plus souvent, elles se presentaient 
sous la forme de larges plateaux aussi hauts que 
le pont du navire, sur lesquels la mer, deferlant 
avec fureur, arrondissait des golfes, taillait des 
falaises a pic, ou creusait des grottes profondes 
ou elle s'engouffrait en ecumant. Souvent nous 
passions a cote d'un troupeau de phoques qui, 
couches sur des iles flottantes, suivaient le navire 
d'un long regard effar£ et stupide. Plus d'une 
fois il nous est arrive d'etre frappes du contraste 
que presentait le monde factice au milieu duquel 
nous vivions a bord du navire avec la realite ter- 
rible de la nature qui nous environnait. Assis 
dans un elegant salon, au coin d'un feu clair et 
p^tillant, entoures des mille objets des arts et du 
luxe de la patrie, il nous £tait possible de croire 
que nous n'avions quitt£ ni nos demeures, ni nos 
habitudes, ni nos plaisirs. Une valse de Strauss, 
une m^lodie de Schubert, touches sur le piano 
par notre chef de musique, compldtaient l'illusion ; 



228 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

et cependant il nous suffisait d'effacer la legere 
couche de vapeur qui couvrait nos carreaux pour 
apercevoir les formes gigantesques et terribles 
des glaces s'entre-choquant sur une mer noire et 
houleuse, et tout le spectacle de la nature polaire, 
avec ses perils et ses sinistres splendeurs. 

" Cependant nous avancions, mais nous avan- 
cions lentement. Le 10 juillet, a midi, nous 
£tions encore loin du meridien de Jean Mayen, 
quand, au milieu de la brume, nous nous trou- 
vames tout a coup au fond d'un des golfes formes 
par la Banquise. Nous virons de bord, mais le 
vent vient d'accumuler les glaces derriere nous. 
A distance, la ceinture qui nous entoure parait 
etre compacte et sans issue. Nous avons note ce 
moment comme le plus critique de notre naviga- 
tion ; apres avoir tat£ la Banquise sur plusieurs 
points, nous decouvrons un passage etroit et tor- 
tueux ; nous nous y engagedns, et ce n'est qu'a- 
pres une heure pleine demotions que nous voyons 
la mer libre et que nous pouvons la gagner. A 
partir de ce moment, nous avons cotoye la Ban- 
quise en la relevant sans interruption. 

"Le 11 juillet, a six heures du matin, nous 
etions enfin arrives sous le meridien de Jean Ma- 
yen et a 18 * lieues de la pointe sud de cette ile. 

* I think there must be some some mistake here ; when we 
parted company with The Heine Hortense, we were still up- 



EXTRACT FROM THE " MONITEUR." 229 

Nous reconnaissions que la Banquise £tait devant 
nous, s'etendant a perte de vue dans la direction 
est-nord-est. Des lors, il devenait evident que 
File de Jean Mayen etait bloquee par les glaces, 
du moins le long de ses cotes meridionales. Pour 
s'assurer si elle etait encore abordable par le nord, 
il eut fallu tenter a Pest un detour dont il etait 
impossible de calculer Petendue. D'ailleurs, la 
moiti6 de notre charbon etait bruise, et nous 
avions perdu tout espoir de raUier le Saxon. 
Renongant a pousser plus loin Pexploration, le 
commandant de la Ronciere, apres avoir fait sor- 
tir le navire de la zone des glaces flottantes, fit 
mettre le cap a Pouest-sud-ouest, pour reprendre 
le chemin de Reykjavik. Au moment ou la Reine- 
Hortense entrait dans sa nouvelle route, un signal 
t61£graphique, d'apres un systeme convenu, infor- 
mait Lord Dufferin de notre determination. Pres- 
que aussitot, le jeune Lord faisait passer a bord 
de la corvette une boite en fer-blanc contenant 
deux lettres. L'une etait pour sa mere, Pautre 
pour le commandant. Dans cette derniere, il lui 
faisait connaitre que la goelette avait beaucoup 
fatigu£ par suite de cette remorque rapide et pro- 
Ion g^e ; que, se trouvant hors des glaces et libre 
de ses mouvements, il pr^ferait continuer seul son 

wards of one hundred miles distant from the southern extremity 
of Jan Mayen. 

11 



230 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

voyage, incertain s'il le pousserait directement en 
Norwege, ou s'il retournerait en Ecosse.* Aus- 
sitot les amarres qui lient les deux navires sont 
larguees, un hurrah d'adieu se fait entendre, et en 
un clin d'ceil la goelette anglaise disparait dans la 
brume. 

" Notre retour a Reykjavik n'a donne lieu a au- 
cun incident remarquable. La Reine-Hortense, 
maintenant sa route en dehors des glaces, n'a eu sa 
marche retardee que par des brumes intenses, qui 
Pont forcee, dans l'impossibilite ou elle etait de 
reconnaitre sa route, de passer une partie de la 
journee et de la nuit du 13 a la cape et a l'ancre. 
Le 14 au matin, sortant de Dyre-Fiord, ou nous 
avions relache, nous avons, a notre grand etonne- 
ment, rencontre la Oocyte faisant route vers le 
nord. Appele a bord, le commandant Sonnart nous 
apprit que, la 12 au soir, le Saxon etait rentre a 
Reykjavik par suite d'une avarie considerable. 
Ce navire, des son entree dans les glaces, le 9 juil- 
let, a aborde un glagon ; cinq de ses membres ont 
ete brises ; une enorme voie d'eau s'est declaree. 
Coulant bas, il s'est echoue une premiere fois a 
Onundarfiord, et une second fois dans la rade de 
Reykjavik, ou il n'est arriv6 qu'avec la plus grande 
peine." 

* I was purposely vague as to my plans, lest you might learn 
we still intended to go on. 



"VOYAGE DANS LES MERS DU NORD." 231 



Extracts from " Voyage dans les Mers du Nord, 
a bord de la corvette La Reine Hortense, par 
M. Charles Edmond (Choiegki)." Paris, Oct re , 
1857. 

" La corvette file a petite vapeur entre des mon- 
ceaux de glace. Parfois un leger grincement se 
fait entendre ; nous effleurons un bloc enorme a 
babord, afin d'echapper a Fetreinte d'un autre plus 
grand a tribord. Nous pouvons maintenant appre- 
cier froidement notre situation ; elle est bien sim- 
ple. Tant que nous aurons la chance d'eviter nos 
importuns envahisseurs, nous pouvons dormir sur 
les deux oreilles ; mais qu'un bourguignon a pointe 
aigue se permette de pratiquer une ouverture dans 
la coque de fer de notre navire, nous coulons a 
pic. Cela ne nous empeche pas d'avancer vers 
Pile, objet de nos esp^rances." 

" La petite goelette de Lord DufFerin, solide- 
ment amarrde a Farriere de notre corvette, bondit 
comme une evapor^e dans notre sillage ; elle fait 
bonne contenance et se donne meme des airs 
cranes en disproportion avec son exiguite. C'est 
bien ; c'est honorable ; ce petit navire promet 
beaucoup ; il fera son chemin." 



232 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" Le ciel se colore d'un gris uniforme ; la brume 
le relie bientfrt a la mer par une merae teinte 
monotone." 

" A mesure que nous poussons vers le Nord, la 
brume s'epaissit ; le froid devient plus intense ; la 
neige tourbillonne au milieu des rafales de vent 
et couvre le pont d'un eclatant tapis." 

" Nous sommes encore eloignes du meridien de 
Jean Mayen, quand, au milieu de la brume, nous 
penetrons dans un des grands golfes de la Ban- 
quise. II faut de nouveau rebrousser chemin, 
manoeuvre que nous ne discontinuons pas de 
pratiquer. La corvette vire de bord. La brume 
se dissipe un peu, et, malgre notre changement 
de front, nous rencontrons encore devant nous la 
Banquise. A droite et a gauche, en avant et en 
arriere, partout nous n'apercevons que des rem- 
parts de glace. Qu'est-il done arrive ? Quel est 
le motif de ce desagreable incident ? 

" Tandis que nous entrions au fond du golfe, 
le vent accumulait derriere nous les blocs con- 
geles. En peu de temps, il s'en est amasse des 
quantites enormes. La ceinture qui nous etreint 
parait, a distance; compacte et sans issue. II ne 
nous reste qu'un seul parti a prendre; il faut, 
sans perte de temps, briser le cercle fatal. Chaque 



" VOYAGE DANS LES MERS DU NORD." 233 

minute accroit le peril ; les blocs, disloques pour 
un moment, peuvent facilement se souder, et si 
ce maudit vent qui nous vient debout continue, 
avant que nous soyons parvenus a gagner le large 
nous serons pris dans un etau, serres, ecrases 
comme une coque d'ceuf vide entre deux doigts." 

" Apres plusieurs heures de t&tonnements, d'es" 
sais infructueux, nous finissons par decouvrir un 
passage etroit et tortueux. Nous nous y en- 
gageons. On entend les grincements des glaces 
qui mordent sur la coque de notre navire. Nous 
nous frayons un chemin avec peine. Soudain la 
mer s'^claircit. En avant ! Encore quelques vig- 
oureux coups d'helice, et nous voguons en pleine 
mer, et nous sommes libres." 



l 5 



" Les deux autorites du bord, apres un moment 
de conference, croient devoir essayer d'une der- 
niere tentative. * * * Mais les bourguignons 
sont decides a defendre vaillamment Pentr^e de 
leur domaine. lis se serrent, ils nous pressent de 
toutes parts, ils surgissent a babord et a tribord. 
La mer devient houleuse ; elle se brise avec fracas 
contre ses inflexibles gardiens des regions arc- 
tiques. Les fantomes de cristal depassent en 
hauteur les bords de notre navire. Ils se balan- 
cent sur les vagues et nous menacent de leurs 



234 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

pics aigus. Aussi loin que Fceil pent atteindre, 
la mer se couvre et se herisse de ces defenseurs 
de Tile de Jean Mayen. 

" II n'y a plus de doute, la Banquise defend les 
approches du Chanaan sauvage de notre pere- 
grination. Elle s'etend a perte de vue dans la 
direction E.N.E. Toute la cote meridionale de 
File est bloquee par les glaces. II se peut qu'elle 
offre un acc£s par le Nord; mais, pour cela, il 
aurait fallu essayer a FEst d'un detour dont il est 
difficile de calculer la longueur. D'ailleurs, la 
moitie de notre charbon est consoramee; nous 
avons a peine de quoi effectuer notre retour a 
Reykiawik. Quant a notre acolyte le Saxon, 
depuis trois jours nous Favons perdu de vue. Pas 
de trace de ce qu'il est devenu ; espoir fort pro- 
blematique de le rallier. Force nous est done de 
renoncer a notre entreprise." 

" Le commandant fait mettre le cap dans la 
direction de la capitale de FIslande. Le parti 
que nous prenons la parait d'autant plus sage que 
la mer devient tresmauvaise et commence a rouler 
des vagues fort inhospitalieres. 

" En ce moment, la petite goelette qui, jusqu'ici, 
s'etait associee si intimement a toutes nos aven- 
tureuses p^ripeties, est informee de notre deter- 
mination. Lord Dufferin nous fait passer a bord 



" VOYAGE DANS LES MERS DU NORD." 2S5 

une boite en fer-blanc contenant deux lettres, 
Fune pour sa mere, Fautre pour le commandant 
de la Ronciere. II nous annonce que le Foam a 
beaucoup fatigue par suite de la remorque rapide 
et prolongee, et qu'il ne se sent plus la force de 
nous suivre. Aussitot les amarres qui lient les 
deux navires sont larguees ; un hurrah d'adieu 
retentit sur les deux batiments, et, en un clin 
d'ceil, la goelette qu'accompagnera notre inquie- 
tude et que suivront nos bons souvenirs disparait 
dans les brumes." 



LETTER X. 

BUCOLICS — THE GOAT — MAID MARIAN — A LAPP LADY — 
LAPP LOVE-MAKING — THE SEA-HORSEMAN — THE GULF 
STREAM — ARCTIC CURRENTS — A DINGY EXPEDITION — 

A SCHOOL OF PERIPATETIC FISHES ALTEN — THE 

CHATELAINE OF KAAFIORD — STILL NORTHWARD HO ! 

July 27th, Alten. 

This letter ought to be an Eclogue, so pastoral 
a life have we been leading lately among these 
pleasant Nordland valleys. Perhaps it is only 
the unusual sight of meadows, trees, and flow- 
ers, after the barren sea and still more barren 
lands we have been accustomed to, that invests 
this neighbourhood with such a smiling charac- 
ter. Be that as it may, the change has been too 
grateful not to have made us seriously reflect on 
our condition ; and we have at last determined 
that not even the envious ocean shall for the 
future cut us off from the pleasures of a shepherd 
life. Henceforth, the boatswain is no longer to 
be the only swain on board! "We have pur- 
chased an ancient goat — a nanny-goat — so that 
we may be able to go a-milking upon occasion. 



A LAPP ACQUAINTANCE. 237 

Mr. Webster, late of Her Majesty's Foot-guards, 
carpenter, &c. takes brevet-rank as dairymaid ; 
and our venerable passenger is at this moment 
being inducted into a sumptuous barrel* which T 
have had fitted up for her reception abaft the 
binnacle. A spacious meadow of sweet-scented 
hay has been laid down in a neighbouring corner 
for her further accommodation; and the Doctor 
is tuning up his flageolet, in order to complete 
the bucolic character of the scene. The only 
personage amongst us at all disconcerted by 
these arrangements is the little white fox which 
has come with us from Iceland. Whether he 
considers the admission on board of so domestic 
an animal to be a reflection on his own wild 
Viking habits, I cannot say ; but there is no im- 
pertinence — even to the nibbling of her beard 
when she is asleep — of which he is not guilty 
towards the poor old thing, who passes the 
greater part of her mornings in gravely butting 
at her irreverent tormentor. 

But I must relate our last week's proceedings 
in a more orderly manner. 

As soon as the anchor was let go in Hammer- 
fest harbour, we went ashore ; and having first 

* The cask in question was bought in order to be rigged 
up eventually into a crow's nest, as soon as we should again 
find ourselves among the ice. 
11* 



238 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

ascertained that the existence of a post does not 
necessarily imply letters, we turned away, a little 
disappointed, to examine the metropolis of Fin- 
mark. A nearer inspection did not improve the 
impression its first appearance had made upon 
us ; and the odour of rancid cod-liver oil, which 
seemed indiscriminately to proceed from every 
building in the town, including the church, has 
irretrievably confirmed us in our prejudices. 
Nevertheless, henceforth the place will have one 
redeeming association connected with it, which 
I am bound to mention. It was in the streets of 
Hammerfest that I first set eyes on a Laplander. 
Turning round the corner of one of the ill-built 
houses, we suddenly ran over a diminutive little 
personage, in a white woollen tunic, bordered 
with red and yellow stripes, green trousers, fast- 
ened round the ankles, and reindeer boots, curv- 
ing up at the toes like Turkish slippers. On her 
head — for, notwithstanding the trousers, she 
turned out to be a lady — was perched a gay 
parti-coloured cap, fitting close round the face, 
and running up at the back into an overarch- 
ing peak of red cloth. Within this peak was 
crammed — as I afterwards learnt — a piece of 
hollow wood, weighing about a quarter of a 
pound, into which is fitted the wearer's back 
hair, so that perhaps after all, there does exist 



A LAPP LADY. 239 

a more inconvenient coiffure than a Paris bon- 
net. 

Hardly had we taken off our hats, and bowed 
a thousand apologies for our unintentional rude- 
ness to the fair inhabitant of the green trousers, 
before a couple of Lapp gentlemen hove in sight. 
They were dressed pretty much like their com- 
panion, except that an ordinary red night-cap 
replaced the queer helmet worn by the lady ; and 
the knife and sporran fastened to their belts, 
instead of being suspended in front as hers 
were, hung down against their hips. Their 
tunics, too, may have been a trifle shorter. 
None of the three were beautiful. High cheek- 
bones, short noses, oblique Mongol eyes, no eye- 
lashes, and enormous mouths, composed a cast 
of features which their burnt sienna complexion, 
and hair — like ill-got-in hay — did not much en- 
hance. The expression of their countenances 
was not unintelligent; and there was a merry, 
half-timid, half-cunning twinkle in their eyes, 
which reminded me a little of faces I had met 
with in the more neglected districts of Ireland. 
Some ethnologists, indeed, are inclined to reckon 
the Laplanders as a branch of the Celtic family. 
Others, again, maintain them to be Ugrians ; 
while a few pretend to discover a relationship 
between the Lapp language and the dialects of 



240 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

the Australian savages, and similar outsiders of 
the human family; alleging that as successive 
stocks bubbled up from the central birthplace of 
mankind in Asia, the earlier and inferior races 
were gradually driven outwards in concentric 
circles, like the rings produced by the throwing 
of a stone into a pond ; and that, consequently, 
those who dwell in the uttermost ends of the 
earth are, ipso facto, first cousins. 

This relationship with the Polynesian Niggers, 
the native genealogists would probably scout 
with indignation, being perfectly persuaded of 
the extreme gentility of their descent. Their 
only knowledge of the patriarch Noah is as a 
personage who derives his principal claim to 
notoriety from having been the first Lapp. Their 
acquaintance with any sacred history — nay, with 
Christianity at all — is very limited. It was not 
until after the thirteenth century that an attempt 
was made to convert them ; and although Charles 
the Fourth and Gustavus ordered portions of 
Scripture to be translated into Lappish, to this 
very day a great proportion of the race are Pa- 
gans ; and even the most illuminated amongst 
them remain slaves to the grossest superstition. 
When a couple is to be married, if a priest hap- 
pens to be in the way, they will send for him 
perhaps out of complaisance ; but otherwise, the 



THEIR DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS. 241 

young lady's papa merely strikes a flint and steel 
together, and the ceremony is not less irrevocably 
completed. When they die, a hatchet and a flint 
and steel are invariably buried with the defunct, 
in case he should find himself chilly on his long 
journey — an unnecessary precaution, many of the 
orthodox would consider, on the part of such lax 
religionists. When they go boar-hunting — the 
most important business in their lives — it is a 
sorcerer, with no other defence than his incanta- 
tions, who marches at the head of the procession. 
In the internal arrangements of their tents, it is 
not a room to themselves, but a door to them- 
selves, that they assign to their womankind ; for 
woe betide the hunter if a woman has crossed 
the threshold over which he sallies to the chase ; 
and for three days after the slaughter of his prey 
he must live apart from the female portion of his 
family in order to appease the evil deity whose 
familiar he is supposed to have destroyed. It 
would be endless to recount the innumerable 
occasions upon which the ancient rites of Jumala 
are still interpolated among the Christian ob- 
servances they profess to have adopted. 

Their manner of life I had scarcely any oppor- 
tunities of observing. Our Consul kindly under- 
took to take us to one of their encampments; 
but they flit so often from place to place, it is 



242 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

very difficult to light upon them. Here and 
there, as we cruised about among the fiords, blue 
wreaths of smoke rising from some little green 
nook among the rocks would betray their tempo- 
rary place of abode ; but I never got a near view 
of a regular settlement. 

In the summer-time they live in canvas tents ; 
during winter, when the snow is on the ground, 
the forest Lapps build huts in the branches of 
trees, and so roost like birds. The principal tent 
is of an hexagonal form, with a fire in the centre, 
w 7 hose smoke rises through a hole in the roof. 
The gentlemen and ladies occupy different sides 
of the same apartment ; but a long pole laid 
along the ground midway between them symbol- 
izes an ideal partition, which I dare say is in the 
end as effectual a defence as lath and plaster 
prove in more civilized countries. At all events, 
the ladies have a doorway quite to themselves, 
which, doubtless, they consider a far greater priv- 
ilege than the seclusion of a separate boudoir. 
Hunting and fishing are the principal employ- 
ments of the Lapp tribes ; and to slay a bear is 
the most honourable exploit a Lapp hero can 
achieve. The flesh of the slaughtered beast be- 
comes the property — not of the man who killed 
him, but of him who discovered his trail, and the 
skin is hung up on a pole, for the wives of all 



THE REINDEER. 243 

who took part in the expedition to shoot at with 
their eyes bandaged. Fortunate is she whose 
arrow pierces the trophy, — not only does it be- 
come her prize, but in the eyes of the whole 
settlement, her husband is looked upon thence- 
forth as the most fortunate of men. As long as 
the chase is going on, the women are not allowed 
to stir abroad; but as soon as the party have 
safely brought home their booty, the whole female 
population issues from the tents, and having de- 
liberately chewed some bark of a species of alder, 
they spit the red juice into their husbands' faces, 
typifying thereby the bear's blood which has been 
shed in the honourable encounter. 

Although the forest, the rivers, and the sea 
supply them in a great measure with their food, 
it is upon the reindeer that the Laplander is 
dependent for every other comfort in life. The 
reindeer is his estate, his horse, his cow, his 
companion, and his friend. He has twenty-two 
different names for him. His coat, trousers, and 
shoes, are made of reindeer's skin, stitched with 
thread manufactured from the nerves and sinews 
of the reindeer. Reindeer milk is the most im- 
portant item in his diet. Out of reindeer horns 
are made almost all the utensils used in his 
domestic economy; and it is the reindeer that 
carries his baggage, and drags his sledge. But 



244 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



the beauty of this animal is by no means on a 
par with his various moral and physical endow- 
ments. His antlers, indeed, are magnificent, 
branching back to the length of three or four 
feet; but his body is poor, and his limbs thick 
and ungainly ; neither is his pace quite so rapid 
as is generally supposed. The Laplanders count 
distances by the number of horizons they have 
traversed ; and if a reindeer changes the horizon 
three times during the twenty-four hours, it is 
thought a good day's work. Moreover, so just 
an appreciation has the creature of what is due 
to his great merit, that if his owner seeks to tax 
him beyond his strength, he not only becomes 
restiff, but sometimes actually turns upon the 
inconsiderate Jehu who has overdriven him. 
When, therefore, a Lapp is in a great hurry, 
instead of taking to his sledge, he puts on a pair 
of skates exactly twice as long as his own body, 
and so flies on the wings of the wind. 

Every Laplander, however poor, has his dozen 
or two dozen deer; and the flocks of a Lapp 
Croesus amount sometimes to two thousand head. 
As soon as a young lady is born — after having 
been duly rolled in the snow — she is dowered by 
her father with a certain number of deer, which 
are immediately branded with her initials, and 
thenceforth kept apart as her especial property. 



A LAPP LOVE-DITTY. 245 

In proportion as they increase and multiply, does 
her chance improve of making a good match. 
Lapp courtships are conducted pretty much in 
the same fashion as in other parts of the world. 
The aspirant, as soon as he discovers that he has 
lost his heart, goes off in search of a friend and 
a bottle of brandy. The friend enters the tent, 
and opens simultaneously — the brandy — and his 
business ; while the lover remains outside, en- 
gaged in hewing wood, or some other menial 
employment. If after the brandy and the pro- 
posal have been duly discussed, the eloquence of 
his friend prevails, he is himself called into the 
conclave, and the young people are allowed to 
rub noses. The bride then accepts from her 
suitor a present of a reindeer's tongue, and the 
espousals are considered concluded. The mar- 
riage does not take place for two or three years 
afterwards; and during the interval the intended 
is obliged to labour in the service of his father-in- 
law, as diligently as Jacob served Laban for the 
sake of his long-loved Rachel. 

I cannot better conclude this summary of what 
I have been able to learn about the honest Lapps, 
than by sending you the tourist's stock specimen 
of a Lapp love-ditty. The author is supposed to 
be hastening in his sledge towards the home of 
his adored one : — 



246 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" Hasten, Kulnasatz ! my little reindeer ! long is the way, 
and boundless are the marshes. Swift are we, and light of 
foot, and soon we shall have come to whither we are speed- 
ing. There shall I behold my fair one pacing. Kulnasatz, 
my reindeer, look forth ! look around ! Dost thou not see her 
somewhere — bathing ? " 

As soon as we had thoroughly looked over 
the Lapp lady and her companions, a process to 
which they submitted with the greatest compla- 
cency, we proceeded to inspect the other lions of 
the town ; the church, the lazar-house, — princi- 
pally occupied by Lapps, — the stock fish estab- 
lishment, and the hotel. But a very few hours 
were sufficient to exhaust the pleasures of Ham- 
merfest; so having bought an extra suit of jer- 
seys for my people, and laid in a supply of other 
necessaries, likely to be useful in our cruise to 
Spitzbergen, we exchanged dinners with the Con- 
sul, a transaction by which, I fear, he got the 
worst of the bargain, and then got under weigh 
for this place, — Alten. 

The very day we left Harnmerfest our hopes 
of being able to get to Spitzbergen at all — re- 
ceived a tremendous shock. We had just sat 
down to dinner, and I was helping the Consul to 
fish, when in comes Wilson, his face, as usual, 
upside down, and hisses something into the Doc- 
tor's ear. Ever since the famous dialogue which 






BAD NEWS. 247 

had taken place between them on the subject of 
sea-sickness, Wilson had got to look upon Fitz 
as in some sort his legitimate prey, and when- 
ever the burden of his own misgivings became 
greater than he could bear, it was to the Doctor 
that he unbosomed himself. On this occasion, I 
guessed, by the look of gloomy triumph in his 
eyes, that some great calamity had occurred, and 
it turned out that the following was the agreea- 
ble announcement he had been in such haste to 
make : " Do you know, Sir ? " — This was always 
the preface to tidings unusually doleful. " No — 
what ? " said the Doctor, breathless. " Oh noth- 
ing, Sir; only two sloops have just arrived, Sir, 
from Spitzbergen, Sir — where they couldn't get, 
Sir; — such a precious lot of ice — two hundred 
miles from the land — and, oh, Sir, — they've come 
back with all their bows stove in ! " Now, imme- 
diately on arriving at Hammerfest, my first care 
had been to inquire how the ice was lying this 
year to the northward, and I had certainly been 
told that the season was a very bad one, and that 
most of the sloops that go every summer to kill 
sea-horses (i. e. walrus) at Spitzbergen, being 
unable to reach the land, had returned empty 
handed, but as three weeks of better weather had 
intervened since their discomfiture, I had quite 
reassured myself with the hope, that in the mean 



248 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

time the advance of the season might have opened 
for us a passage to the island. 

This news of Wilson's quite threw me on my 
back again. The only consolation was, that 
probably it was not true ; so immediately after 
dinner we boarded the honest Sea-horseman who 
was reported to have brought the dismal intelli- 
gence. He turned out to be a very cheery, intel- 
ligent fellow, of about five-and-thirty, six feet 
high, with a dashing, " devil-may-care " manner 
that completely imposed upon me. Charts were 
got out, and the whole state of the case laid 
before me in the clearest manner. Nothing could 
be more unpromising. The sloop had quitted the 
ice but eight-and-forty hours before making the 
Norway coast ; she had not been able even to 
reach Bear Island. Two hundred miles of ice 
lay off the southern and western coast of Spits- 
bergen — (the eastern side is always blocked up 
with ice) — and then bent round in a continuous 
semicircle towards Jan Mayen. That they had 
not failed for want of exertion — the bows of his 
ship sufficiently testified. As to our getting there, 
it was out of the question. So spake the Sea- 
horseman. On returning on board The Foam, I 
gave myself up to the most gloomy reflections. 
This, then, was to be the result of all my prepa- 
rations and long-meditated schemes. What like- 



THE GULF STREAM. 249 

lihood was there of success, after so unfavourable 
a verdict ? Ipse dixit, equus marinus. It is true, 
the horse-marines have hitherto been considered 
a mythic corps, but my friend was too substan- 
tial-looking for me to doubt his existence ; and 
unless I was to ride off on the proverbial credu- 
lity of the other branch of that amphibious pro- 
fession, I had no reason to question his veracity. 
Nevertheless, I felt it would not become a gentle- 
man to turn back at the first blush of discourage- 
ment. If it were possible to reach Spitzbergen, I 
was determined to do so. I reflected, that every 
day that passed was telling in our favour. It was 
not yet the end of July ; even in these latitudes 
winter does not commence much before Septem- 
ber, and in the mean time the tail of the Gulf 
Stream would still be wearing a channel in the 
ice towards the pole ; so — however unpromis- 
ing might be the prospect, I determined, at all 
events, that we should go and see for ourselves 
how matters really stood. 

But I must explain to you why I so counted 
upon the assistance of the Gulf Stream to help 
through. 

The entire configuration of the Arctic ice is 
determined by the action of that mysterious cur- 
rent on its edges. Several theories have been 
advanced to account for its influence in so remote 



250 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

a region. I give you one, which appears to me 
reasonable. It is supposed that, in obedience to 
that great law of Nature which seeks to establish 
equilibrium in the temperature of fluids, a vast 
body of gelid water is continually mounting from 
the Antarctic, to displace and regenerate the over- 
heated oceans of the torrid zone. Bounding up 
against the west side of South America, the as- 
cending stream skirts the coasts of Chili and 
Peru, and is then deflected in a westerly direc- 
tion across the Pacific Ocean, where it takes the 
name of the Equatorial Current. Having com- 
pletely encircled Australia, it enters the Indian 
Sea, sweeps up round the Cape of Good Hope, 
and crossing the Atlantic, twists into the Gulf of 
Mexico. Here its flagging energies are suddenly 
accelerated in consequence of the narrow limits 
within which it finds itself compressed. So mar- 
vellous does the velocity of the current now be- 
come, so complete its isolation from the deep sea 
bed it traverses, that by the time it issues again 
into the Atlantic, its hitherto diffused and loitering 
waters are suddenly concentrated into what Lieu- 
tenant Maury has happily called — " a river in the 
ocean," swifter and of greater volume than either 
the Mississippi or the Amazon. Surging forth 
between the interstices of the Bahamas, that 
stretch like a w x eir across its mouth, it cleaves 



THE ICY CURRENT. 251 

asunder the Atlantic. So distinct is its indivi- 
duality, that one side of a vessel will be scoured 
by its warm, indigo-coloured water, while the 
other is floating in the pale, stagnant, weed-en- 
cumbered brine of the Mar de Sargasso of the 
Spaniards. It is not only by colour, by its tem- 
perature, by its motion, that this " for) 'tineavoio" is 
distinguished ; its very surface is arched upwards 
some way above the ordinary sea level toward 
the centre, by the lateral pressure of the elastic 
liquid banks between which it flows. Impreg- 
nated with the warmth of tropic climes, the Gulf 
Stream — as it has now come to be called, then 
pours its genial floods across the North Atlantic, 
laving the western coasts of Britain, Ireland, and 
Norway, and investing each shore it strikes upon, 
with a climate far milder than that enjoyed by 
other lands situated in the same latitudes. 
Arrived abreast of the North Cape, the impetus 
of the current is in a great measure exhausted. 
From causes similar (though of less efficacy, 
in consequence of the smaller area occupied by 
water,) to those which originally gave birth to 
the ascending energy of the Antarctic waters, 
a gelid current is also generated in the Arctic 
Ocean, which, descending in a southwesterly 
direction, encounters the already faltering Gulf 
Stream in the space between Spitzbergen and 



252 LETTERS PROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Nova Zembla. A contest for the mastery ensues, 
which is eventually terminated by a compromise. 
The warmer stream, no longer quite able to hold 
its own, splits into two branches, the one squeez- 
ing itself round the North Cape, as far as that 
Varangar Fiord which Russia is supposed so 
much to covet, while the other is pushed up in 
a more northerly direction along the west coast 
of Spitzbergen. But although it has power to 
split up the Gulf Stream for a certain distance, 
the Arctic current is ultimately unable to cut 
across it, and the result is an accumulation of 
ice to the south of Spitzbergen in the angle 
formed by the bifurcation, as Mr. Grote would 
call it, of the warmer current. 

It is quite possible, therefore, that the north- 
west extremity of Spitzbergen may be compara- 
tively clear, while the whole of its southern coasts 
are enveloped in belts of ice of enormous extent. 
It was on this contingency that we built our 
hopes, and determined to prosecute our voyage, 
in spite of the discouraging* report of the Norse 
skipper. 

About eight o'clock in the evening we got 
under weigh from Hammerfest ; unfortunately 
the wind almost immediately after fell dead calm, 
and during the whole night we lay "like a painted 
ship upon a painted ocean." At six o'clock a 



PERIPATETIC FISH. 253 

little breeze sprang up, and when we came on 
deck at breakfast time, the schooner was skim- 
ming at the rate of five knots an hour over the 
level lanes of water, which lie between the silver- 
gray ridges of gneiss and mica sJate that hem in 
the Nordland shore. The distance from Ham- 
merfest to Alten is about forty miles along a 
zigzag chain of fiords. It was six o'clock in the 
evening, and we had already sailed two-and-thirty 
miles, when it again fell almost calm. Impatient 
at the unexpected delay, and tempted by the 
beauty of the evening, — which was indeed most 
lovely, the moon hanging on one side right oppo- 
site to the sun on the other, as in the picture of 
Joshua's miracle, — Sigurdr, in an evil hour, pro- 
posed that we should take a row in the dingy, 
until the midnight breeze should spring up, and 
bring the schooner along with it. Away we 
went, and so occupied did we become with ad- 
miring the rocky precipices beneath which we 
were gliding, that it was not until the white sails 
of the motionless schooner had dwindled to a 
speck, that we became aware of the distance we 
had come. 

Our attention had been further diverted by the 
spectacle of a tribe of fishes, whose habit it ap- 
peared to be — instead of swimming like Christian 
fishes in a horizontal position beneath the water 
12 



254 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

— to walk upon their hind legs along its surface. 
Perceiving a little boat floating on the loch not 
far from the spot where we had observed this 
phenomenon, we pulled towards it, and ascertained 
that the Lapp officer in charge was actually in- 
tent on stalking the peripatetic school — to use a 
technical expression — -whose evolutions had so 
much astonished us. The great object of the 
sportsman is to judge by their last appearance 
what part of the water the fish are likely to select 
for the scene of their next promenade. Directly 
he has determined this in his own mind, he rows 
noiselessly to the spot, and as soon as they show 
themselves — hooks them with a landing-net into 
his boat. 

By this time it had become a doubtful point 
whether it would not be as little trouble to row 
on to Alten as to return to the schooner, so we 
determined to go on. Unfortunately we turned 
down a wrong fiord, and after a long pull, about 
two o'clock in the morning had the satisfaction 
of finding ourselves in a cul-de-sac. To add to 
our discomfort, clouds of mosquitoes with the 
bodies of behemoths and the stings of dragons, 
had collected from all quarters of the heavens to 
make a prey of us. In vain we struggled — strove 
to knock them down with the oars, — plunged our 
heads under the water, — smacked our faces with 



COPPER MINES OF KAAFIORD. 255 

frantic violence ; on they came in myriads, until 
I thought our bleaching bones would alone re- 
main to indicate our fate. At last Sigurdr espied 
a log hut on the shore, where we might at least 
find some one to put us into the right road again ; 
but on looking in at the open door, we only saw 
a Lapland gentleman fast asleep. Awaking at 
our approach, he started to his feet, and though 
nothing could be more gracefully conciliatory than 
the bow with which I opened the conversation, I 
regret to say that after staring wildly round for a 
few minutes, the aboriginal bolted straight away 
in the most unpolite manner and left us to our 
fate. There was nothing for it but patiently to 
turn back, and try some other opening. This 
time we were more successful, and about three 
o'clock a.m. had the satisfaction of landing at one 
of the wharves attached to the copper mines of 
Kaafiord. We came upon a lovely scene. It 
was as light and warm as a summer's noon in 
England ; upon a broad plateau, carved by nature 
out of the side of the gray limestone, stood a 
bright shining house in the middle of a plot of 
rich English-looking garden. On one side lay 
the narrow fiord, on every other rose an amphi- 
theatre of fir-clad mountains. The door of the 
house was open, so were many of the windows — 
even those on the ground-floor, and from the road 



256 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

where we stood we could see the books on the 
library shelves. A swing and some gymnastic 
appliances on the lawn told us that there were 
children. Altogether, I thought I had never seen 
such a charming picture of silent comfort and 
security. Perhaps the barren prospects we had 
been accustomed to — made the little oasis before 
us look more cheerful than we might otherwise 
have thought it. 

The question now arose, what was to be done? 
My principal reason for coming to Alten was to 
buy some salt provisions and Lapland dresses ; 
but dolls and junk were scarcely a sufficient pre- 
text for knocking up a quiet family at three o'clock 
in the morning. It is true, I happened to have a 

letter for Mr. T , written by a mutual friend, 

who had expressly told me that — arrive when I 
might at Alten, — the more unceremoniously I 
walked in and took possession of the first unoc- 
cupied bed I stumbled on, the better Mr. T 

would be pleased ; but British punctilio would 
not allow me to act on the recommendation, 
though we were sorely tried. In the mean time, 
the mosquitoes had become more intolerable than 
ever. At last, half mad with irritation, I set off 
straight up the side of the nearest mountain, in 
hopes of attaining a zone too high for them to 
inhabit ; and — poising myself upon its topmost 



MOSQUITOES. 257 

pinnacle, I drew my handkerchief over my head — 
I was already without coat and waistcoat — and 
remained the rest of the morning " mopping and 
mowing " at the world beneath my feet. 

About six o'clock, like a phantom in a dream, 
the little schooner came stealing round the misty 
headland, and anchored at the foot of the rocks 
below. Returning immediately on board, we 
bathed, dressed, and found repose from all our 
troubles. Not long after, a message from Mr. 

T , in answer to a card I had sent up to the 

house as soon as the household gave signs of 
being astir — invited us to breakfast; and about 
half-past nine we presented ourselves at his hos- 
pitable door. The reception I met with was ex- 
actly what the gentleman who had given me the 
letter of introduction had led me to expect ; and 
so eager did Mr. T seem to make us com- 
fortable, that I did not dare to tell him how we 
had been prowling about his house the greater 
part of the previous night, lest he should knock 
me down on the spot, for not having knocked 
him up. The appearance of the inside of the 
house quite corresponded with what we had an- 
ticipated from the soigne air of every thing about 
its exterior. Books, maps, pictures, a number of 
astronomical instruments, geological specimens, 
and a magnificent assortment of fishing-rods, be- 



258 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

trayed the habits of the practical, well-educated, 
business-loving English gentleman who inhabited 
it ; and as he showed me the various articles of 
interest in his study, most heartily did I congrat- 
ulate myself on the lucky chance which had 
brought me into contact with so desirable an 
acquaintance. 

All this time we had seen nothing of the lady 
of the house ; and I was just beginning to specu- 
late as to whether that crowning ornament could 
be wanting to this pleasant home, when the door 
at the further end of the room suddenly opened, 
and there glided out into the sunshine — " The 
White Lady of Avenel." A fairer apparition I 
have seldom seen, — stately, pale, and fragile as a 
lily — blond hair, that rippled round a forehead of 
ivory — a cheek of waxen purity on which the 
fitful color went and came — not with the flush 
of southern blood, or flower-bloom of English 
beauty, — but rather with a cool radiance, as of 
" northern streamers " on the snows of her native 
hills, — eyes of a dusky blue, and lips of that rare 
tint which lines the conch-shell. Such was the 
Chatelaine of Kaafiord, — as perfect a type of 
Norse beauty as ever my Saga lore had conjured 
up! Frithiof's Ingeborg herself seemed to stand 
before me. A few minutes afterwards, two little 
fair-haired maidens, like twin snowdrops, stole 



the m'alstrom. 259 

into the room ; and the sweet home-picture was 
complete. 

The rest of the day has been a continued fete. 
In vain — after having transacted my business — I 
pleaded the turning of the tide, and our anxiety 
to get away to sea ; nothing would serve our 
kind entertainer but that we should stay to din- 
ner; and his was one of those strong energetic 
wills it is difficult to resist. 

In the afternoon, the Hammerfest steamer 
called in from the southward, and by her came 
two fair sisters of our hostess from their father's 
home in one of the LofFodens which overlook the 
famous Malstrom. The stories about the vio- 
lence of the whirlpool Mr. T assures me are 

ridiculously exaggerated. On ordinary occasions 
the site of the supposed vortex is perfectly un- 
ruffled, and it is only when a strong weather tide 
is running that any unusual movements in the 
water can be observed ; even then the disturb- 
ance does not amount to much more than a 
rather troublesome race. " Often and often, when 
she was a girl, had his wife and her sisters sailed 
over its fabulous crater in an open boat." But 
in this wild romantic country, with its sparse 
population, rugged mountains, and gloomy fiords, 
very ordinary matters become invested with a 
character of awe and mystery quite foreign to 



260 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

the atmosphere of our own matter-of-fact world ; 
and many of the Norwegians are as prone to 
superstition as the poor little Lapp pagans who 
dwell among them. 

No later than a few years ago, in the very 
fiord we had passed on our way to Alten, when 
an unfortunate boat got cast away during the 
night on some rocks at a little distance from the 
shore, the inhabitants, startled by the cries of dis- 
tress which reached them in the morning twilight, 
hurried down in a body to the seaside, — not to 
afford assistance, — but to open a volley of mus- 
ketry on the drowning mariners ; being fully 
persuaded that the stranded boat, with its torn 
sails, was no other than the Kracken or Great 
Sea-Serpent, flapping its dusky wings ; and 
when, at last, one of the crew succeeded in 
swimming ashore in spite of waves and bullets — 
the whole society turned and fled ! 

And now, again good-bye. We are just going 

up to dine with Mr. T ; and after dinner, or 

at least as soon as the tide turns, we get under 
weigh — Northward Ho ! (as Mr. Kingsley would 
say) in right good earnest this time ! 



LETTER XL 

WE SAIL FOR BEAR ISLAND AND SPITZBERGEN — CHERIE 
ISLAND — BARENTZ — SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY — PARRY'S 
ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE — AGAIN AMONGST 
THE ICE — ICEBLINK — FIRST SIGHT OF SPITZBERGEN — 
WILSON — DECAY OF OUR HOPES — CONSTANT STRUGGLE 
WITH THE ICE — WE REACH THE 80° N. LAT. — A FREER 
SEA — WE LAND IN SPITZBERGEN — ENGLISH BAY — LADY 
EDITH'S GLACIER — A MIDNIGHT PHOTOGRAPH — NO REIN- 
DEER TO BE SEEN — ET EGO IN ARCTIS — WINTER IN SPITZ- 
BERGEN — PTARMIGAN — THE BEAR-SAGA — THE " FOAM " 
MONUMENT — SOUTHWARDS — SIGHT THE GREENLAND ICE 
— A GALE — WILSON ON THE MALSTROM — BREAKERS 
AHEAD — ROOST — TAKING A SIGHT — THRONDHJEM. 

Throndhjem, August 22, 1856. 

We have won our laurels, after all ! We have 
landed in Spitzbergen — almost at its most north- 
ern extremity ; and the little Foam has sailed to 
within 630 miles of the Pole ; that is to say, 
within 100 miles as far north as any ship has 
ever succeeded in getting. 

I think my last letter left us enjoying the pleas- 
ant hospitalities of Kaafiord. 

The genial quiet of that last evening in Nor- 
way was certainly a strange preface to the scenes 

12* 



262 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

we have since witnessed. So warm was it, that 
when dinner was over, we all went out into the 
garden, and had tea in the open air ; the ladies 
without either bonnets or shawls, merely pluck- 
ing a little branch of willow to brush away the 
mosquitoes ; and so the evening wore away in 
alternate intervals of chat and song. At mid- 
night, seawards again began to swirl the tide, 
and we rose to go, — not without having first paid 
a visit to the room where the little daughters of 
the house lay folded in sleep. Then descending 
to the beach, laden with flowers and kind wishes 
waved to us by white handkerchiefs held in still 
whiter hands, we rowed on board ; up went the 
flapping sails, and dipping her ensign in token of 
adieu — the schooner glided swiftly on between 
the walls of rock, until an intervening crag shut 
out from our sight the friendly group that had 
come forth to bid us a Good speed." In another 
twenty-four hours we had threaded our way back 
through the intricate fiords ; and leaving Ham- 
merfest three or four miles on the starboard hand, 
on the evening of the 28th of July, we passed out 
between the islands of Soroe and Bolsvoe into 
the open sea. 

My intention was to go first to Bear Island, 
and ascertain for myself in what direction the 
ice was lying to the southward of Spitzbergen. 



BEAK ISLAND. 263 

Bear — or Cherie Island, is a diamond-shaped 
island, about ten miles long, composed of second- 
ary rocks — principally sandstone and limestone 
— lying about 280 miles due north of the North 
Cape. It was originally discovered by Barentz, 
the 9th of June, 1596, on the occasion of his last 
and fatal voyage. Already had he commanded 
two expeditions sent forth by the United Prov- 
inces to discover a northeast passage to that 
dream-land — Cathay ; and each time, after pene- 
trating to the eastward of Nova Zembla, he had 
been foiled by the impenetrable line of ice. On 
this occasion he adopted the bolder and more 
northerly course, which brought him to Bear 
Island. Thence, plunging into the mists of the 
frozen sea, he ultimately sighted the western 
mountains of Spitzbergen. Unable to proceed 
further in that direction, Barentz retraced his 
steps, and again passing in sight of Bear Island, 
proceeded in a southeast direction to Nova Zem- 
bla, where his ships got entangled in the ice, and 
he subsequently perished. 

Towards the close of the sixteenth century, in 
spite of repeated failures, one endeavour after 
another was made to penetrate to India across 
these fatal waters. 

The first English vessel that sailed on the dis- 
astrous quest was The Bona Esperanza, in the 



264 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

last year of King Edward VI. Her commander 
was Sir Hugh Willoughby, and we have still 
extant a copy of the instructions drawn up by 
Sebastian Cabot — the Grand Pilot of England, 
for his guidance. Nothing can be more pious 
than the spirit in which this ancient document is 
conceived ; expressly enjoining that morning and 
evening prayers should be offered on board every 
ship attached to the expedition, and that neither 
dicing, carding, tabling, nor other devilish devices 
— were to be permitted. Here and there were 
clauses of a more questionable morality, — recom- 
mending that natives of strange lands be " en- 
ticed on board, and made drunk with your beer 
and wine ; for then you shall know the secrets of 
their hearts." The whole concluding with an 
exhortation to all on board to take especial heed 
to the devices of " certain creatures, with men's 
heads, and the tails of fishes, who swim with 
bows and arrows about the fiords and bays, and 
live on human flesh." 

On the 11th of May the ill-starred expedition 
got under weigh from Deptford, and saluting the 
king, who was then lying sick at Greenwich, put 
to sea. By the 30th of July the little fleet — three 
vessels in all — had come up abreast of the Lof- 
foden islands, but a gale coming on, The Espe- 
ranza was separated from her consorts. "Ward- 



265 

huus — a little harbour to the east of the North 
Cape — had been appointed as the place of ren- 
dezvous in case of such an event, but unfortu- 
nately, Sir Hugh overshot the mark, and wasted 
all the precious autumn time in blundering amid 
the ice to the eastward. At last, winter set in, 
and they were obliged to run for a port in Lap- 
land. Here, removed from all human aid, they 
were frozen to death. A year afterwards, the 
ill-fated ships were discovered by some Russian 
sailors, and an unfinished journal proved that 
Sir Hugh and many of his companions were still 
alive in January, 1554. 

The next voyage of discovery in a northeast 
direction, was sent out by Sir Francis Cherie, 
alderman of London, in 1603. After proceeding 
as far east as Ward-huus and Kela, The God- 
speed pushed north into the ocean, and on the 
16th of August fell in with Bear Island. Un- 
aware of its previous discovery by Barentz, Ste- 
phen Bennet — who commanded the expedition — 
christened the island Cherie Island, in honour of 
his patron, and to this day the two names are 
used almost indiscriminately. 

In 1607, Henry Hudson was dispatched by the 
Muscovy Company, with orders to sail, if possi- 
ble, right across the pole. Although perpetually 
baffled by the ice, Hudson at last succeeded in 



266 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

reaching the northwest extremity of Spitzbergen, 
but finding his further progress arrested by an 
impenetrable barrier of fixed ice, he was forced 
to return. A few years later, Jonas Poole — hav- 
ing been sent in the same direction, instead of 
prosecuting any discoveries, wisely set himself to 
killing the sea-horses that frequent the Arctic 
ice-fields, and in lieu of tidings of new lands — 
brought back a valuable cargo of walrus tusks. 
In 1615, Fotherby started with the intention of 
renewing the attempt to sail across the north 
pole, but after encountering many dangers he 
also was forced to return. It was during the 
course of his homeward voyage that he fell in 
with the island of Jan Mayen. Soon afterwards, 
the discovery by Hudson and Davis, of the seas 
and straits to which they have given their names, 
diverted the attention of the public from all 
thoughts of a northeast passage, and the Spits- 
bergen waters were only frequented by ships en- 
gaged in the fisheries. The gradual disappear- 
ance of the whale, and the discovery of more 
profitable fishing stations on the west coast of 
Greenland, subsequently abolished the sole at- 
traction for human beings which this inhospitable 
region ever possessed, and of late years, I under- 
stand, the Spitzbergen seas have remained as 
lonely and unvisited — as they were before the 
first adventurer invaded their solitude. 



parry's attempt. 267 

Twice only, since the time of Fotherby, has 
any attempt been made to reach the pole on 
a northeast course. In 1773, Captain Phipps, 
afterwards Lord Mulgrave, sailed in The Carcass 
towards Spitzbergen, but he never reached a 
higher latitude than 81°. It was in this expedi- 
tion that Nelson made his first voyage, and had 
that famous encounter with the bear. The next 
and last endeavour was undertaken by Parry, in 
1827. Unable to get his ship even as far north 
as Phipps had gone, he determined to leave her 
in a harbour in Spitzbergen, and push across the 
sea in boats and sledges. The uneven nature of 
the surface over which they had to travel, caused 
their progress northward to be very slow, and 
very laborious. The ice too, beneath their feet, 
was not itself immovable, and at last they per- 
ceived they were making the kind of progress a 
criminal makes upon the treadmill, — the floes 
over which they were journeying — drifting to the 
southward faster than they walked north ; so 
that at the end of a long day's march of ten 
miles, they found Jbhemselves four miles further 
from their destination than at its commencement. 
Disgusted with so Irish a manoeuvre, Parry de- 
termined to return, though not until he had almost 
reached the 83d parallel, a higher latitude than 
any to which man is known to have penetrated. 



268 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Arctic authorities are still of opinion, that Parry's 
plan for reaching the pole might prove successful, 
if the expedition were to set out earlier in the 
season, ere the intervening field of ice is cast 
adrift by the approach of summer. 

Our own run to Bear Island was very rapid. 
On getting outside the islands, a fair fresh wind 
sprung up, and we went spinning along for two 
nights and two days as merrily as possible, 
under a double-reefed mainsail and staysail, on a 
due north course. On the third day we began 
to see some land birds, and a few hours after- 
wards, the loom of the island itself; but it had 
already begun to get fearfully cold, and our ther- 
mometer — which I consulted every two hours — 
plainly indicated that we were approaching ice. 
My only hope was — that at all events, the south- 
ern extremity of the island might be disengaged ; 
for I was very anxious to land, in order to exam- 
ine some coal-beds which are said to exist in the 
upper strata of the sandstone formation. This 
expectation was doomed to complete disappoint- 
ment. Before we had got within six miles of 
the shore, it became evident that the report of 
the Hammerfest Sea-horseman was too true. 

Between us and the land there extended an 
impenetrable barrier of packed ice, running due 
east and west — as far as the eye could reach. 



MOUNT MISERY. 269 

What was now to be done ? *If a continuous 
field of ice lay 150 miles off the southern coast 
of Spitzbergen, what would be the chance of 
getting to the land by going further north ? 
Now that we had received ocular proof of the 
veracity of the Hammerfest skipper in this first 
particular, — was it likely that we should have the 
luck to find the remainder of his story untrue ? 
According to the track he had jotted down for 
me on the chart, the ice in front stretched right 
away west in an unbroken line, to the wall of 
ice which we had seen running into the north, 
from the upper end of Jan Mayen. Only a 
week had elapsed since he had actually ascer- 
tained the impracticability of reaching a higher 
latitude, — what likelihood could there be of a 
channel having been opened up to the north- 
ward during so short an interval ? Such was 
the series of insoluble problems by which I posed 
myself, as we stood vainly smacking our lips at 
the island, which lay so tantalizingly beyond our 
reach. 

Still, unpromising as the aspect of things 
might appear, it would not do to throw a chance 
away, — so I determined to put the schooner 
round on the other tack, and run westwards 
along the edge of the ice, until we found our- 
selves again in the Greenland sea. Bidding, 



270 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

therefore, a last adieu to Mount Misery, as its 
first discoverers very appropriately christened one 
of the higher hills in Bear Island, we suffered it 
to melt back into the fog, — out of which, indeed, 
no part of the land had ever more than partially 
emerged, — and, with no very sanguine expecta- 
tions as to the result, sailed west away towards 
Greenland. During the next four-and-twenty 
hours we ran along the edge of the ice, in nearly 
a due westerly direction, without observing the 
slightest indication of any thing approaching to 
an opening towards the North. It was weary 
work, scanning that seemingly interminable bar- 
rier, and listening to the melancholy roar of 
waters on its icy shore. 

At last, after having come about 140 miles 
since leaving Bear Island — the long, white, wave- 
lashed line suddenly ran do'wn into a low point, 
and then trended back with a decided inclination 
to the North. Here, at all events, was an im- 
provement ; instead of our continuing to steer 
W. by $?♦, or at most W. by N., the schooner 
would often lay as high up as N. W., and even 
N. W. by N. Evidently the action of the Gulf 
Stream was beginning to tell, and our spirits 
rose in proportion. In a few more hours, how- 
ever, this cheering prospect was interrupted by a 
fresh line of ice being reported, not only ahead, 



ICE AGAIN. 271 

but as far as the eye could reach on the port 
bow — so again the schooner's head was put to 
the westward, and the old story recommenced. 
And now the flank of the second barrier was 
turned, and we were able to edge up a few hours 
to the northward ; but only to be again con- 
fronted by another line, more interminable — 
apparently — than the last. But, why should I 
weary you with the detail of our various man- 
oeuvres during the ensuing days? they were too 
tedious and disheartening at the time, for me to 
look back upon them with any pleasure. Suf- 
fice it to say, that by dint of sailing north when- 
ever the ice would permit us, and sailing west 
when we could not sail north, — we found our- 
selves on the 2d of August, in the latitude of 
the southern extremity of Spitzbergen, though 
divided from the land by about fifty miles of ice. 
All this while the weather had been pretty good, 
foggy and cold enough, but with a fine stiff 
breeze that rattled us along at a good rate when- 
ever we did get a chance of making any North- 
ing. But lately it had come on to blow very 
hard, the cold became quite piercing, and what 
was worse — in every direction round the whole 
circuit of the horizon, except along its southern 
segment, — a blaze df iceblink illuminated the 
sky. A more discouraging spectacle could not 



272 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



have met our eyes. The iceblink is a luminous 
appearance, reflected on the heavens from the 
fields of ice that still lie sunk beneath the hori- 
zon ; it was therefore on this occasion an unmis- 
takable indication of the encumbered state of the 
sea in front of us. 

I had turned in for a few hours of rest, and 
release from the monotonous sense of disappoint- 
ment, and was already lost in a dream of deep 
bewildering bays of ice, and gulfs whose shifting 
shores offered to the eye every possible combina- 
tion of uncomfortable scenery, without possible 
issue, — when " a voice in my dreaming ear " 
shouted " Land ! " and I awoke to its reality. I 
need not tell you in what double quick time I 
tumbled up the companion, — or with what greed- 
iness I feasted my eyes on that longed-for view, 
— the only sight — as I then thought — we were 
ever destined to enjoy of the mountains of Spits- 
bergen ! 

The whole heaven was overcast with a dark 
mantle of tempestuous clouds, that stretched 
down in umbrella-like points towards the hori- 
zon, leaving a clear space between their edge 
and the sea, illuminated by the sinister brilliancy 
of the iceblink. In an easterly direction, this belt 
of unclouded atmosphere was etherealized to an 
indescribable transparency, and up into it there 



FIRST GLIMPSE OF SPITZBERGEN. 273 

gradually grew — above the dingy line of star- 
board ice — a forest of thin lilac peaks, so faint, 
so pale, that had it not been for the gem-like 
distinctness of their outline, one could have 
deemed them as unsubstantial as the spires of 
fairy-land. The beautiful vision proved only too 
transient ; in one short half hour mist and cloud 
had blotted it all out, while a fresh barrier of ice 
compelled us to turn our backs on the very land 
we were striving to reach. 

Although we were certainly upwards of sixty 
miles distant from the land when the Spitzbergen 
hills were first observed, the intervening space 
seemed infinitely less ; but in these high latitudes 
the eye is constantly liable to be deceived in the 
estimate it forms of distances. Often, from some 
change suddenly taking place in the state of the 
atmosphere, the land you approach will appear 
even to recede ; and on one occasion, an hon- 
est skipper — one of the most valiant and enter- 
prising mariners of his day — actually turned back, 
because, after sailing for several hours with a fair 
wind towards the land, and finding himself no 
nearer to it than at first, he concluded that some 
loadstone rock beneath the sea must have attract- 
ed the keel of his ship, and kept her stationary. 

The next five days were spent in a continual 
struggle with the ice. On referring to our log, I 



274 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

see nothing but a repetition of the same monot- 
onous observations. 

"July 31. — Wind W. by S. — Courses sundry 
to clear ice. 

" Ice very thick. 

" These twenty-four hours picking our way 
through ice. 

" August 1. — Wind W. — Courses variable — 
foggy — continually among ice these twenty-four 
hours." 

And in Fitz's diary, the discouraging state of 
the weather is still more pithily expressed : — 

"August 2. Head wind — sailing westward — 
large hummocks of ice ahead, and on port bow, 
i. e. to the westward — hope we may be able to 
push through. In evening, ice gets thicker ; we 
still hold on — fog comes on — ice getting thicker 
— wind freshens — we can get no farther — ice im- 
passable, no room to tack — struck the ice several 
times — obliged to sail S. and W. — things look 
very shady." 

Sometimes we were on the point of despairing 
altogether, then a plausible opening would show 
itself as if leading towards the land, and we 
would be tempted to run down it, until we found 
the field become so closely packed, that it was 
with great difficulty we could get the vessel 
round, — and only then at the expense of col- 



WILSON'S REPORT. 275 

lisions, which made the little craft shiver from 
stem to stem. Then a fog would come on — so 
thick, you could almost cut it like a cheese, — and 
thus render the sailing among the loose ice very- 
critical indeed ; then it would fall dead calm, and 
leave us — hours together — muffled in mist, with 
no other employment than chess or hopscotch. 

About this period Wilson culminated. Ever 
since leaving Bear Island he had been keeping 
a carnival of grief in the pantry, until the cook 
became almost half-witted by reason of his Jere- 
miads. Yet I must not give you the impression 
that the poor fellow was the least wanting in 
pluck — far from it. Surely it requires the highest 
order of courage to anticipate every species of 
disaster every moment of the day, and yet to 
meet the impending fate like a man — as he did. 
Was it his fault, that fate was not equally ready 
to meet him ? His share of the business was 
always done ; he was ' ever prepared for the 
worst ; but the most critical circumstances never 
disturbed the gravity of his carriage, and the fact 
of our being destined to go to the bottom before 
tea-time — would not have caused him to lay out 
the dinner-table a whit less symmetrically. Still, 
I own, the style of his service was slightly de- 
pressing. He laid out my clean shirt of a morn- 
ing as if it had been a shroud ; and cleaned my 



276 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

boots as though for a man on his last legs. The 
fact is, he was imaginative and atrabilious, — con- 
templating life through a medium of the colour 
of his own complexion. 

This was the cheerful kind of report he used 
invariably to bring me of a morning. Coming 
to the side of my cot with the air of a man 
announcing the stroke of doomsday, he used to 
say, or rather toll — 

" Seven o'clock, my Lord ! " 

" Very well ; how's the wind ? " 

"Dead ahead, my Lord — dead!" 

" How many points is she off her course ? " 

" Four points, my Lord — full four points ! " 
(Four points being as much as she could be.) 

" Is it pretty clear ? eh ! Wilson ? " 

" — Can't see your hand, my Lord! — can't see 
your hand ! " 

" Much ice in sight ? " 

" — Ice all round, my Lord — ice a-all ro-ound ! " 
— and so exit, sighing deeply over my trousers. 

Yet it was immediately after one of these un- 
promising announcements, that for the first time 
— matters began to look a little brighter. The 
preceding four-and-twenty hours we had remained 
enveloped in a cold and dismal fog. But on com- 
ing on deck, I found the sky had already begun 
to clear ; and although there was ice as far as the 



BRIGHTER PROSPECTS. 277 

eye could see on either side of us, in front a nar- 
row passage showed itself across a patch of loose 
ice into what seemed a freer sea beyond. The 
only consideration was — whether we could be cer- 
tain of finding our way out again, should it turn 
out that the open water we saw was only a basin 
without any exit in any other direction. The 
chance was too tempting to throw away ; so the 
little schooner gallantly pushed her way through 
the intervening neck of ice where the floes seemed 
to be least huddled up together, and in half an 
hour afterwards found herself running up along 
the edge of the starboard ice, almost in a due 
northerly direction. And here I must take occa- 
sion to say, that — during the whole of this rather 
anxious time, my master — Mr. Wyse — conducted 
himself in a most admirable manner. Vigilant, 
cool, and attentive, he handled the vessel most 
skilfully, and never seemed to lose his presence 
of mind in any emergency. It is true, the silk 
tartan still corruscated on Sabbaths, but its bril- 
liant hues were quite a relief to the colourless 
scenes which surrounded us, and the dangling 
chain now only served to remind me of what 
firm dependence I could place upon its wearer. 
Soon after, the sun came out — the mist entirely 
disappeared, and again on the starboard hand 
shone a vision of the land ; this time not in the 

13 



278 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

sharp peaks and spires we had first seen, but in a 
chain of pale, blue, egg-shaped islands, floating 
in the air a long way above the horizon. This 
peculiar appearance was the result of extreme re- 
fraction, for — later in the day — we had an oppor- 
tunity of watching the oval, cloud-like forms 
gradually harden into the same pink, tapering 
spikes which originally caused the island to be 
called Spitzbergen ; nay, so clear did it become, 
that even the shadows on the hills became quite 
distinct, and we could easily trace the outlines of 
the enormous glaciers — sometimes ten or fifteen 
miles broad — that fill up every valley along the 
shore. Towards evening, the line of coast again 
vanished into the distance, and our rising hopes 
received an almost intolerable disappointment by 
the appearance of a long line of ice right ahead, 
running to the westward, apparently — as far as 
the eye could reach. To add to our disgust, the 
wind flew right round into the north, and increas- 
ing to a gale, brought down upon us — not one of 
the usual thick, arctic mists to which we were 
accustomed, but a dark, yellowish, brown fog, 
that rolled along the surface of the water in 
twisted columns, and irregular masses of vapour, 
as dense as coal smoke. We had now almost 
reached the eightieth parallel of north latitude, 
and still an impenetrable sheet of ice — extending 



A BROWN FOG. 279 

fifty or sixty miles westward from the shore — 
rendered all hopes of reaching the land out of 
the question. Our expectation of finding the 
northwest extremity of the island disengaged 
from ice by the action of the currents, was — at 
all events for this season — evidently doomed to 
disappointment. We were already almost in the 
latitude of Amsterdam Island — which is actually 
its northwest point — and the coast seemed more 
encumbered than ever. No whaler had ever suc- 
ceeded in getting more than about 120 miles fur- 
ther north than we ourselves had already come ; 
and to entangle ourselves any further in the ice — 
unless it were with the certainty of reaching land 
— would be sheer folly. The only thing to be 
done was to turn back. Accordingly, to this 
course I determined at last to resign myself, if — 
after standing on for twelve hours longer — noth- 
ing should turn up to improve the present aspect 
of affairs. It was now eleven o'clock, p.m. ; Fitz 
and Sigurdr went to bed, while I remained on 
deck to see what the night might bring forth. It 
blew great guns, and the cold was perfectly in- 
tolerable ; billow upon billow of black fog came 
sweeping down between the sea and sky, as if it 
were going to swallow up the whole universe ; 
while the midnight sun — now completely blotted 
out — now faintly struggling through the ragged 



280 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



breaches of the mist — threw down from time to 
time an unearthly red-brown glare on the waste 
of roaring waters. 

For the whole of that night did we. continue 
beating up along the edge of the ice, in the teeth 
of a whole gale of wind ; at last, about nine 
o'clock in the morning, — but two short hours 
before the moment at which it had been agreed 
we should bear up, and abandon the attempt, — 
we came up with a long low point of ice, that 
had stretched further to the Westward than any 
we had yet doubled, — and there, beyond, lay an 
open sea ! — open not only to the Northward and 
Westward, but also to the Eastward ! You can 
imagine my excitement. " Turn the hands up, 
Mr. Wyse!" "'Bout ship!" "Down with the 
helm ! " " Helm a-lee ! " Up comes the schoon- 
er's head to the wind, the sails flapping with 
the noise of thunder — blocks rattling against the 
deck, as if they wanted to knock their brains 
out — ropes dancing about in galvanized coils, 
like mad serpents — and every thing to an inex- 
perienced eye in inextricable confusion ; till grad- 
ually she pays off on the other tack — the sails 
stiffen into deal-boards — the staysail sheet is let 
go — and heeling over on the opposite side, again 
she darts forward over the sea like an arrow from 
the bow. "Stand by to make sail!" "Out all 



VICTORY. 281 

reefs! " (I could have carried sail to sink a man- 
of-war!) and away the little ship went, playing 
leap-frog over the heavy seas, and staggering 
under her canvas, as if giddy with the same joy- 
ful excitement which made my own heart thump 
so loudly. 

In another hour the sun came out, the fog 
cleared away, and about noon — up again, above 
the horizon, grow the pale lilac peaks, warming 
into a rosier tint as we approach. Ice still 
stretches toward the land on the starboard side ; 
but we don't care for it now — the schooner's head 
is pointing E. and by S. At one o'clock we sight 
Amsterdam Island, about thirty miles on the port 
bow ; then came the " seven ice-hills " — as seven 
enormous glaciers are called — that roll into the 
sea between lofty ridges of gneiss and mica 
slate, a little to the northward of Prince Charles's 
Foreland. Clearer and more defined grows the 
outline of the mountains, some coming forward 
while others recede ; their rosy tints appear less 
even, fading here and there into pale yellows and 
grays ; veins of shadow score the steep sides of 
the hills ; the articulations of the rocks become 
visible ; and now, at last, we glide under the 
limestone peaks of Mitre Cape — past the marble 
arches of King's Bay on the one side — and the 
pinnacle of the Vogel Hook on the other, into 



282 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

the quiet channel that separates the Foreland 
from the main. 

It was at one o'clock in the morning of the 6th 
of August, 1856, that after having been eleven 
days at sea, we came to an anchor in the silent 
haverT of English Bay, Spitsbergen. 

And now, how shall I give you an idea of the 
wonderful panorama in the midst of which we 
found ourselves ? I think, perhaps, its most strik- 
ing feature was the stillness — and deadness — and 
impassibility of this new world; ice, and rock, 
and water surrounded us ; not a sound of any 
kind interrupted the silence ; the sea did not 
break upon the shore ; no bird or any living thing 
was visible ; the midnight sun — by this time 
muffled in a transparent mist — shed an awful, 
mysterious lustre on glacier and mountain ; no 
atom of vegetation gave token of the earth's 
vitality; an universal numbness and dumbness 
seemed to pervade the solitude. I suppose in 
scarcely any other part of the world is this ap- 
pearance of deadness so strikingly exhibited. On 
the stillest summer day in England, there is 
always perceptible an undertone of life thrilling 
through the atmosphere ; and though no breeze 
should stir a single leaf, yet — in default of mo- 
tion — there is always a sense of growth ; but 
here not so much as a blade of grass was to be 



ENGLISH BAY. 283 

seen, on the sides of the bald excoriated hills. 
Primeval rocks — and eternal ice — constitute the 
landscape. 

The anchorage where we had brought up is 
the best to be found, with the exception perhaps 
of Magdalena Bay, along the whole west coast of 
Spitzbergen; indeed it is almost the only one 
where you are not liable to have the ice set in 
upon you at a moment's notice. Ice Sound, 
Bell Sound, Horn Sound — the other harbours 
along the west coast — are all liable to be beset 
by drift-ice during the course of a single night, 
even though no vestige of it may have been in 
sight four-and-twenty hours before ; and many a 
good ship has been inextricably imprisoned in 
the very harbour to which she had fled for refuge. 
This bay is completely landlocked, being pro- 
tected on its open side by Prince Charles's 
Foreland, a long island lying parallel with the 
mainland. Down towards either horn run two 
ranges of schistose rocks about 1,500 feet high, 
their sides almost precipitous, and the topmost 
ridge as sharp as a knife, and jagged as a saw; 
the intervening space is entirely filled up by an 
enormous glacier, which — descending with one 
continuous incline from the head of a valley on 
the right, and sweeping like a torrent round the 
roots of an isolated clump of hills in the centre — 



284 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

rolls at last into the sea. The length of the 
glacial river from the spot where it apparently- 
first originated, could not have been less than 
thirty, or thirty-five miles, or its greatest breadth 
— less than nine or ten ; but so completely did it 
fill up the higher end of the valley, that it was as 
much as you could do to distinguish the further 
mountains peeping up above its surface. The 
height of the precipice where it fell into the sea, 
I should judge to have been about 120 feet. 

On the left — a still more extraordinary sight 
presented itself. A kind of baby glacier actually 
hung suspended half-way on the hill-side, like a 
tear in the act of rolling down the furrowed 
cheek of the mountain. 

I have tried to convey to you a notion of the 
falling impetus impressed on the surface of the 
Jan Mayen ice rivers ; but in this case, so unac- 
countable did it seem that the overhanging mass 
of ice should not continue to thunder down 
upon its course, that one's natural impulse was 
to shrink from crossing the path along which a 
breath — a sound — might precipitate the suspend- 
ed avalanche into the valley. 

These glaciers are the principal characteristic 
of the scenery in Spitzbergen ; the bottom of 
every valley in every part of the island, is occu- 
pied — and generally completely filled by them, 



GLACIERS. 285 

enabling one in some measure to realize the look 
of England during her glacial period, when Snow- 
don was still being slowly lifted towards the 
clouds, and every valley in Wales was brimful 
of ice. But the glaciers in English Bay are by 
no means the largest in the island. We our- 
selves got a view — though a very distant one — of 
ice rivers which must have been more extensive ; 
and Dr. Scoresby mentions several which actu- 
ally measured forty or fifty miles in length, and 
nine or ten in breadth ; while the precipice formed 
by their fall into the sea, was sometimes upwards 
of 400 or 500 feet high. Nothing is more dan- 
gerous than to approach these cliffs of ice. Ev- 
ery now and then, huge masses detach them- 
selves from the face of the crystal steep, and 
topple over into the water ; and woe be to the 
unfortunate ship which might happen to be pass- 
ing below. Scoresby himself actually witnessed 
a mass of ice, the size of a cathedral, thunder 
down into the sea from a height of 400 feet ; 
frequently during our stay in Spitzbergen we 
ourselves observed specimens of these ice ava- 
lanches ; and scarcely an hour passed without 
the solemn silence of the bay being disturbed by 
the thunderous boom resulting from similar ca- 
tastrophes occurring in adjacent valleys. 

As soon as we had thoroughly taken in the 

13* 



286 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

strange features of the scene around us, we all 
turned in for a night's rest. I was dog tired, as 
much with anxiety as want of sleep ; for in con- 
tinuing to push on to the northward in spite of 
the ice, I naturally could not help feeling that if 
any accident occurred, the responsibility would 
rest with me ; and although I do not believe that 
we were at any time in any real danger, yet 
from our inexperience in the peculiarities of 
arctic navigation, I think the coolest judgment 
would have been liable to occasional misgivings 
as to what might arise from possible contingen- 
cies. Now, however, all was right ; the result 
had justified our anticipations ; we had reached 
the so longed-for goal ; and as I stowed myself 
snugly away in the hollow of my cot, I could 
not help heartily congratulating myself that — for 
that night at all events — there was no danger of 
the ship knocking a hole in her bottom against 
some hummock which the look-out had been too 
sleepy to observe; and that Wilson could not 
come in the next morning and announce "ice 
all round, a-all ro-ound ! " In a quarter of an 
hour afterwards, all was still on board The 
Foam ; and the lonely little ship lay floating on 
the glassy bosom of the sea, apparently as in- 
animate as the landscape. 

My feelings on awakening next morning were 



WILSON BACONIZES. 287 

very pleasant; something like what one used to 
feel the first morning after one's return from 
school, on seeing pink curtains glistening round 
one's head, instead of the dirty-white boards of a 
turn-up bedstead. When Wilson came in with 
my hot water, I could not help triumphantly 
remarking to him, — " Well, Wilson, you see 
we've got to Spitzbergen after all ! " But Wil- 
son was not a man to be driven from his con- 
victions by facts ; he only smiled grimly, with a 
look which meant — " Would we were safe back 
again ! " Poor Wilson ! he would have gone only 
half-way with Bacon in his famous Apothegm ; 
he would willingly " commit the Beginnings of 
all actions to Argus, with his hundred eyes, and 
the Ends " — to Centipede, with his hundred legs. 
"First to watch, and then to speed" — away! 
would have been his pithy emendation. 

Immediately after breakfast we pulled to the 
shore, carrying in the gig with us the photo- 
graphic apparatus, tents, guns, ammunition, and 
the goat. Poor old thing ! she had suffered 
dreadfully from sea-sickness, and I thought a 
run ashore might do her good. On the left-hand 
side of the bay, between the foot of the moun- 
tain and the sea, there ran a low flat belt of 
black moss, about half a mile broad ; and as 
this appeared the only point in the neighbour- 



288 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



hood likely to offer any attraction to reindeer, it 
was on this side that I determined to land. My 
chief reason for having run into English Bay, 
rather than Magdalena Bay, was, because we 
had been told at Hammerfest that it was the 
more likely place of the two for deer ; and as 
we were sadly in want of fresh meat, this advan- 
tage quite decided us in our choice. As soon, 
therefore, as we had superintended the erection 
of the tent, and set Wilson hard at work clean- 
ing the glasses for the photographs, we slung our 
rifles on our backs, and set off in search of deer. 
But in vain did I peer through my telescope 
across the dingy flat in front ; not a vestige of a 
horn was to be seen, although in several places 
we came upon impressions of their track. At last 
our confidence in the reports of their great plenty 
became considerably diminished. Still the walk 
was very refreshing after our confinement on 
board ; and although the thermometer was below 
freezing, the cold only made the exercise more 
pleasant. A little to the northward I observed — 
lying on the sea-shore — innumerable logs of drift- 
wood. This wood is floated all the way from 
America by the Gulf Stream, and as I walked 
from one huge bole to another, I could not help 
wondering in what primeval forest each had 
grown, what chance had originally cast them on 



MOTHER EARTH. 289 

the waters, and piloted them to this desert shore. 
Mingled with this fringe of unhewn timber that 
lined the beach — lay — waifs and strays of a more 
sinister kind ; pieces of broken spars, an oar, a 
boat's flag-staff, and a few shattered fragments 
of some long-lost vessel's planking. Here and 
there, too, we would come upon skulls of wal- 
rus, ribs and shoulder-blades of bears, brought 
possibly by the ice in winter. Turning again 
from the sea, we resumed our search for deer ; 
but two or three hours more very stiff walking 
produced no better luck. Suddenly a cry from 
Fitz, who had wandered a little to the right, 
brought us helter-skelter to the spot where he 
was standing. But it was not a stag he had 
called us to come and look upon. Half imbed- 
ded in the black moss at his feet, there lay a 
gray deal coffin falling almost to pieces with age ; 
the lid was gone — blown off probably by the 
wind — and within were stretched the bleaching 
bones of a human skeleton. A rude cross at 
the head of the grave still stood partially upright, 
and a half-obliterated Dutch inscription preserved 
a record of the dead man's name and age. 

VANDER SCIIELLING .... 

COMMAN. . . . JACOB MOOR .... 
OB 2 JUNE 1758 ^ET 44. 

It was evidently some poor whaler of the last 



290 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

century to whom his companions had given the 
only burial possible in this frost-hardened earth, 
which even the summer sun has no force to pen- 
etrate beyond a couple of inches, and which will 
not afford to man the shallowest grave. A bleak 
resting-place for that hundred years' slumber, I 
thought, as I gazed on the dead mariner's re- 



mains !- 



u I was snowed over with snow 
And beaten with rains 
And drenched with the dews 
Dead have I long been,'- — 

— murmured the Vala to Odin in Nifelheim, — 
and whispers of a similar import seemed to rise 
up from the lidless coffin before us. It was no 
brother mortal that lay at our feet — softly folded 
in the embraces of u Mother Earth " — but a poor 
scarecrow, gibbeted for ages on this bare rock, 
like a dead Prometheus ; the vulture — frost, 
gnawing for ever on his bleaching relics, and 
yet eternally preserving them ! 

On another part of the coast we found two 
other corpses yet more scantily sepulchred, with- 
out so much as a cross to mark their resting- 
place. Even in the palmy days of the whale- 
fisheries, it was the practice of the Dutch and 
English sailors to leave the wooden coffins in 
which they had placed their comrades' remains, 
exposed upon the shore ; and I have been told by 



HILL CLIMBING. 291 

an eye-witness, that in Magdalena Bay there are 
to be seen even to this day, the bodies of men 
who died upwards of 250 years ago, in such com- 
plete preservation that when you pour hot water 
on the icy coating which encases them, you can 
actually see the unchanged features of the dead, 
through the transparent incrustation. 

As soon as Fitz had gathered a few of the 
little flowering mosses that grew inside the coffin, 
we proceeded on our way, leaving poor Jacob 
Moor — like his great namesake — alone in his 
glory. 

Turning to the right, we scrambled up the 
spur of one of the mountains on the eastern side 
of the plain, and thence dived down among the 
lateral valleys that run up between them. Al- 
though by this means we opened up quite a new 
system of hills, and basins, and gullies, the gen- 
eral scenery did not change its characteristics. 
All vegetation — if the black moss deserves such a 
name — ceases when you ascend twenty feet above 
the level of the sea, and the sides of the moun- 
tains become nothing but steep slopes of schist, 
split and crumbled into an even surface by the 
frost. Every step we took, unfolded a fresh suc- 
cession of these jagged spikes and break-neck 
acclivities, in an unending variety of quaint con- 
figuration. Mountain climbing has never been a 



292 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

hobby of mine, so I was not tempted to play the 
part of Excelsior on any of these hill-sides, — but 
for those who love such exercise a fairer or a 
more dangerous opportunity of distinguishing 
themselves could not be imagined. The super- 
cargo or owner of the very first Dutch ship that 
ever came to Spitzbergen, broke his neck in at- 
tempting to climb a hill in Prince Charles's Fore- 
land. Barentz very nearly lost several of his men 
under similar circumstances, and when Scoresby 
succeeded in making the ascent of another hill 
near Horn Sound, it was owing to his having 
taken the precaution of marking each upward 
step in chalk, that he was ever able to get down 
again. The prospect from the summit — the ap- 
proach to which was by a ridge so narrow, that 
he sat astride upon its edge — seems amply to 
have repaid the exertion ; and I do not think I 
can give you a better idea of the general effect of 
Spitzbergen scenery, than by quoting his striking 
description of the panorama he beheld. 

" The prospect was most extensive and grand. 
A fine sheltered bay was seen to the east of us, 
an arm of the same on the northeast, and the sea, 
whose glassy surface was unruffled by a breeze, 
formed an immense expanse on the west ; the 
icebergs rearing their proud crests almost to the 
tops of mountains between which they were 



HILL CLIMBING. 293 

lodged, and defying the power of the solar beams, 
were scattered in various directions about the sea- 
coast and in the adjoining bays. Beds of snow 
and ice filling extensive hollows, and giving an 
enamelled coat to adjoining valleys, one of which, 
commencing at the foot of the mountain where 
we stood extended in a continued line towards 
the north, as far as the eye could reach — moun- 
tain rising above mountain, until by distance 
they dwindled into insignificancy — the whole 
contrasted by a cloudless canopy of deepest 
azure, and enlightened by the rays of a blazing 
sun, and the effect aided by a feeling of danger, 
seated as we were on the pinnacle of a rock 
almost surrounded by tremendous precipices, — 
all united to constitute a picture singularly sub- 
lime. 

" Our descent we found really a very hazard- 
ous, and in some instances a painful undertaking. 
Every movement was a work of deliberation. 
Having by much care, and with some anxiety, 
made good our descent to the top of the second- 
ary hills, we took our way down one of the 
steepest banks, and slid forward with great 
facility in a sitting posture. Towards the foot 
of the hill, an expanse of snow stretched across 
the line of descent. This being loose and soft, 
we entered upon it without fear, but on reaching 



294 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

the middle of it, we came to a surface of solid ice, 
perhaps a hundred yards across, over which we 
launched with astonishing velocity, but happily 
escaped without injury. The men whom we left 
below, viewed this latter movement with astonish- 
ment and fear." 

So universally does this strange land bristle 
with peaks and needles of stone, that the views 
we ourselves obtained — though perhaps from a 
lower elevation, and certainly without the risk — 
scarcely yielded either in extent or picturesque 
grandeur to the scene described by Dr. Scoresby. 

Having pretty well overrun the country to the 
northward, without coming on any more satisfac- 
tory signs of deer than their hoof-prints in the 
moss — we returned on board. The next day — 
but I need not weary you with a journal of our 
daily proceedings — for however interesting each 
moment of our stay in Spitzbergen was to our- 
selves, as much perhaps from a vague expecta- 
tion of what we might see, as from any thing 
we actually did see — a minute account of every 
walk we took, and every bone we picked up, or 
every human skeleton we came upon, would 
probably only make you wonder why on earth 
we should have wished to come so far to see 
so little. Suffice it to say that we explored the 
neighbourhood in the three directions left open 



A SPITZBERGEN WINTER. 295 

to us by the mountains, that we climbed the two 
most accessible of the adjacent hills, wandered 
along the margin of the glaciers, rowed across to 
the opposite side of the bay, descended a certain 
distance along the sea-coast, and in fact ex- 
hausted all the lions of the vicinity. 

During the whole period of our stay in Spitz- 
bergen, we had enjoyed unclouded sunshine. 
The nights were even brighter than the days, 
and afforded Fitz an opportunity of taking some 
photographic views by the light of a midnight 
sun. The cold was never very intense, though 
the thermometer remained below freezing ; but 
about four o'clock every evening, the salt-water 
bay in which the schooner lay, was veneered over 
with a pellicle of ice one eighth of an inch in 
thickness, and so elastic, that even when the sea 
beneath was considerably agitated, its surface 
remained unbroken — the smooth round waves 
taking the appearance of billows of oil. If such 
is the effect produced by the slightest modifica- 
tion of the sun's power, in the month of August, 
— you can imagine what must be the result of 
his total disappearance beneath the horizon. 
The winter is, in fact, unendurable. Even in 
the height of summer, the moisture inherent in 
the atmosphere is often frozen into innumerable 
particles, so minute as to assume the appearance 



296 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



of an impalpable mist. Occasionally persons 
have wintered on the island, but unless the 
greatest precautions have been taken for their 
preservation, the consequences have been almost 
invariably fatal. About the same period as 
when the party of Dutch sailors were left at 
Jan Mayen, a similar experiment was tried in 
Spitzbergen. At the former place it was scurvy 
rather than cold, which destroyed the poor 
wretches left there to fight it out with winter ; 
at Spitzbergen, as well as could be gathered 
from their journal, it appeared that they had 
perished from the intolerable severity of the cli- 
mate, — and the contorted attitudes in which their 
bodies were found lying, too plainly indicated 
the amount of agony they had suffered. No 
description can give an adequate idea of the 
intense rigour of the six months' winter in this 
part of the world. Stones crack with the noise 
of thunder ; in a crowded hut the breath of its 
occupants will fall in flakes of snow ; wine and 
spirits turn to ice ; the snow burns like caustic ; 
if iron touches the flesh, it brings the skin away 
with it ; the soles of your stockings may be burnt 
off your feet, before you feel the slightest warmth 
from the fire; linen taken out of boiling water, 
instantly stiffens to the consistency of a wooden 
board ; and heated stones will not prevent the 



PTARMIGAN. 297 

sheets of the bed from freezing. If these are 
the effects of the climate within an air-tight, 
fire-warmed, crowded hut, — what must they be 
among the dark, storm-lashed, mountain peaks 
outside ! 

It was now time to think of going south 
again ; we had spent many more days on the 
voyage to Spitzbergen than I had expected, and 
I was continually haunted by the dread of your 
becoming anxious at not hearing from us. It 
was a great disappointment to be obliged to 
return without having got any deer; but your 
peace of mind was of more consequence to me 
than a ship-load of horns; and accordingly we 
decided on not remaining more than another day 
in our present berth; leaving it still an open 
question whether we should not run up to Mag- 
dalena Bay — if the weather proved very inviting 
— the last thing before quitting for ever the Spitz- 
bergen shores. 

We had killed nothing as yet, except a few 
eider ducks, and one or two ice-birds — the most 
graceful winged creatures I have ever seen, with 
immensly long pinions, and plumage of spotless 
white. Although enormous seals from time to 
time used to lift their wise grave faces above the 
water, with the dignity of sea-gods, none of us 
had any very great inclination to slay such rational 



298 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

human-looking creatures, and — with the excep- 
tion of these and a white fish, a species of whale 
— no other living thing had been visible. On the 
very morning, however, of the day settled for our 
departure, Fitz came down from a solitary expe- 
dition up a hill with the news of his having seen 
some ptarmigan. Having taken a rifle with him 
instead of a gun, he had not been able to shoot 
more than one, which he had brought back in 
triumph as proof of the authenticity of his report ; 
but the extreme juvenility of his victim hardly 
permitted us to identify the species ; the hole 
made by the bullet being about the same size as 
the bird. Nevertheless, the slightest prospect of 
obtaining a supply of fresh meat, was enough to 
reconcile us to any amount of exertion ; therefore, 
on the strength of the pinch of feathers which 
Fitz kept gravely assuring us was the game he 
had bagged, we seized our guns — I took a rifle 
in case of a possible bear — and set our faces to- 
ward the hill. After a good hour's pull we 
reached the shoulder which Fitz had indicated as 
the scene of his exploit, but a patch of snow was 
the only thing visible. Suddenly I saw Sigurdr, 
who was remarkably sharp-sighted, run rapidly 
in the direction of the snow, and bringing his 
gun up to his shoulder, point it, as well as I could 
distinguish, at his own toes. When the smoke 



THE BEAR-SAGA. 299 

of the shot had cleared away, I fully expected to 
see the Icelander prostrate ; but he was already 
reloading with the greatest expedition. Deter- 
mined to prevent the repetition of so dreadful an 
attempt at self-destruction, I rushed to the spot. 
Guess then my relief when the bloody body of a 
ptarmigan — driven by so point blank a discharge, 
a couple of feet into the snow — was triumphantly 
dragged forth by instalments from the sepulchre 
which it had received contemporaneously with 
its death wound, and thus happily accounted for 
Sigurdr's extraordinary proceeding. At the same 
moment I perceived two or three dozen other 
birds, brothers and sisters of the defunct, calmly 
strutting about under our very noses. By this 
time Sigurdr had reloaded, Fitz had also come 
up, and a regular massacre began. Retiring to 
a distance — for it was the case of Mahomet and 
the mountain reversed — the two sportsmen opened 
fire upon the innocent community, and in a few 
seconds sixteen corpses strewed the ground. 

Scarcely had they finished off the last survivor 
of this Niobean family, when we were startled by 
the distant report of a volley of musketry, fired in 
the direction of the schooner. I could not con- 
ceive what had happened. Had a mutiny taken 
place ? Was Mr. Wyse reenacting, with a less 
docile ship's company, the pistol scene on board 



300 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



the Glasgow steamer ? Again resounded the 
rattle of the firing. At all events, there was no 
time to be lost in getting back ; so, tying up the 
birds in three bundles, we flung ourselves down 
into the gully by which we had ascended, and 
leaping on from stone to stone, to the infinite 
danger of our limbs and necks — rolled rather than 
ran down the hill. On rounding the lower wall 
of the curve which hitherto had hid what was 
passing from our eyes, the first thing I observed 
was Wilson breasting up the hill, evidently in a 
state of the greatest agitation. As soon as he 
thought himself within earshot, he stopped dead 
short, and making a speaking-trumpet with his 
hands, shrieked — rather than shouted, " If you 
please, my Lord ! " — (as I have already said, 
Wilson never forgot les convenances) — " If you 
please, my Lord, there's a b-e-a-a-a-a-r ! " pro- 
longing the last word into a polysyllable of fear- 
ful import. Concluding by the enthusiasm he 
was exhibiting, that the animal in question was 
at his heels, — hidden from us probably by the 
inequality of the ground, — I cocked my rifle, and 
prepared to roll him over the moment he should 
appear in sight. But what was my disappoint- 
ment, when, on looking towards the schooner, 
my eye caught sight of our three boats fastened 
in a row, and towing behind them a white float- 



WILSON AND THE BEAR. 301 

ing object, which my glass only too surely re- 
solved the next minute into the dead bear! 

On descending to the shore, I learned the 
whole story. 

As Mr. Wyse was pacing the deck, his atten- 
tion was suddenly attracted by a white speck in 
the water, swimming across from Prince Charles's 
Foreland, — the long island which lies over against 
English Bay. When first observed, the creature, 
whatever it might be, was about a mile and a 
half off, — the width of the channel between the 
island and the main being about five miles. 
Some said it was a bird, others a whale, and the 
cook suggested a mermaid. When the fact was 
ascertained that it was a bond fide bear, a gun 
was fired as a signal for us to return ; but it was 
evident that unless at once intercepted, Bruin 
would get ashore. Mr. Wyse, therefore, very 
properly determined to make sure of him. This 
was a matter of no difficulty ; the poor beast 
showed very little fight. His first impulse was 
to swim away from the boat ; and even after he 
had been wounded, he only turned round once or 
twice upon his pursuers. The honour of having 
given him his death wound rests between the 
steward and Mr. Wyse ; both contend for it. 
The evidence is conflicting — as at least half-a- 
dozen mortal wounds were found in the animal's 

14 



302 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

body ; each may be considered to have had a 
share in his death. Mr. Grant rests his claim 
principally upon the fact of his having put two 
bullets in my new rifle — which must have greatly 
improved the bore of that instrument. On the 
strength of this precaution, he now wears as an 
ornament about his person — one of the bullets 
extracted from the gizzard of our prize. 

All this time, "Wilson was at the tent, busily 
occupied in taking photographs. As soon as the 
bear was observed, a signal was made to him 
from the ship, to warn him of the visitor he 
might shortly expect on shore. Naturally con- 
cluding that the bear would in all probability 
make for the tent as soon as he reached land, 
it became a subject of consideration with him 
what course he should pursue. Weapons he 
had none, unless the chemicals he was using 
might be so regarded. Should he try the influ- 
ence of chloroform on his enemy ; or launch the 
whole photographic apparatus at his grisly head, 
and take to his heels? Thought is rapid, but the 
bear's progress seemed equally expeditious ; it 
was necessary to arrive at some speedy conclu- 
sion. To fly — was to desert his post and leave 
the camp in possession of the spoiler; life and 
honour were equally dear to him. Suddenly a 
bright idea struck him. 



WILSON AMD THE BARREL. 303 

At the time the goat had been disembarked to 
take her pleasure on terra fir ma, our crow's-nest 
barrel had been landed with her. At this mo- 
ment it was standing unoccupied by the side of the 
tent. By creeping into it, and turning its mouth 
downward on the ground, Wilson perceived that 
he should convert it into a tower of strength for 
himself against the enemy, while its legitimate 
occupant, becoming at once a victim to the 
bear's voracity, would probably prevent the mon- 
ster from investigating too curiously its con- 
tents. It was quite a pity that the interposition 
of the boats prevented his putting this ingenious 
plan into execution. He had been regularly 
done out of a situation, in which the most poig- 
nant agony of mind and dreary anticipations, 
would have been absolutely required of him. 
He pictured the scene to himself ; he — lying fer- 
menting in the barrel — like a curious vintage ; 
the bear sniffing querulously round it, perhaps 
cracking it like a cocoa-nut, or extracting him 
like a periwinkle ! Of these chances he had 
been deprived by the interference of the crew. 
Friends are often injudiciously meddling. 

Although I felt a little vexation that one of us 
should not have had the honour of slaying the 
bear in single combat — which would certainly 
have been for the benefit of his skin, — the un- 



304 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

expected luck of having got one at all, made us 
quite forget our personal disappointment. As 
for my people, they were beside themselves with 
delight. To have killed a polar bear was a great 
thing, — but to eat him would be a greater. If 
artistically dealt with, his carcase would prob- 
ably cut up into a supply of fresh meat for many 
days. One of the hands happened to be a 
butcher. Whenever I wanted any thing — a little 
out of the way — to be done on board, I was 
sure to find that it happened to be the speciality 
of some one of the ship's company. In the 
course of a few hours, the late bear was con- 
verted into a row of the most tempting morsels 
of beef, hung about the rigging. Instead of in 
flags, the ship was dressed in joints. In the 
mean time it so happened, that the fox — having 
stolen a piece of offal — was in a few minutes 
afterwards seized with convulsions. I had al- 
ready given orders that the bear's liver should 
be thrown overboard, as being — if not poisonous 
— at all events very unwholesome. The seizure 
of the fox, coupled with this injunction, brought 
about a complete revolution in the men's minds, 
with regard to the delicacies they had been so 
daintily preparing for themselves. Silently, one 
by one, the pieces were untied and thrown into 
the sea ; I do not think a mouthful of bear was 



bear's-grease. 305 

eaten on board The Foam. I never heard 
whether it was in consequence of any prognos- 
tics of Wilson's that this act of self-denial was 
put into practice. I observed, however, that for 
some days after the slaughter and dismember- 
ment of the bear, my ship's company presented 
an unaccountably sleek appearance. As for the 
steward, his head and whiskers seemed carved 
out of black marble ; a varnished boot would not 
have looked half so bright ; I could have seen to 
shave myself in his black hair. I conclude, 
therefore, that the ingenious cook must — at all 
events — have succeeded in manufacturing a sup- 
ply of genuine bear's-grease, of which they had 
largely availed themselves. 

The bagging of the bear had so gloriously 
crowned our visit to Spitzbergen, that our disap- 
pointment about the deer was no longer thought 
of ; it was therefore with light hearts, and most 
complete satisfaction, that we prepared for de- 
parture. 

Maid Marian had already carved on a flat 
stone, an inscription, in Roman letters, recording 
the visit of The Foam to English Bay ; and a 
cairn having been erected to receive it, the tablet 
was solemnly lifted to its resting-place. Under- 
neath I placed a tin box, containing a memoran- 
dum similar to that left at Jan May en, as well as 



306 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

a printed dinner invitation from Lady , which 

I happened to have on board. Having planted 
a boat's flag beside the rude monument, and 
brought on board with us a load of driftwood, 
to serve hereafter as Christmas yule-logs — we 
bade an eternal adieu to the silent hills around 
us ; and weighing anchor, stood out to sea. For 
some hours, a lack of wind still left us hanging 
about the shore, in the midst of a grave society of 
seals ; but soon after a gentle breeze sprang up in 
the south, and about three o'clock on Friday, the 
11th of August, we again found ourselves spank- 
ing along before a sixth-knot breeze, over the 
pale, green sea. 

In considering the course on which I should 
take the vessel home, it appeared to me that in 
all probability we should have been much less 
pestered by the ice on our way to Spitzbergen, if, 
instead of hugging the easterly ice, we had kept 
more away to the westward ; I determined there- 
fore — as soon as we got clear of the land — to 
stand right over to the Greenland shore, on a 
due west course, and not to attempt to make any 
southing, until we should have struck the Green- 
land ice. The length of our tether in that direc- 
tion being ascertained, we could then judge of 
the width of the channel down which we were to 
beat, for it was still blowing pretty fresh from the 
southward. 



SOUTHWARDS. 307 

Up to the evening of the day on which we 
quitted English Bay, the weather had been most 
beautiful ; calm, sunshiny, dry, and pleasant. 
Within a few hours of our getting under weigh, 
a great change had taken place, and by midnight 
it had become as foggy and disagreeable as ever. 
The sea was pretty clear. During the few days 
we had been on shore, the northerly current had 
brushed away the great angular field of ice which 
had lain off the shore, in a northwest direction ; 
so that instead of being obliged to run up very 
nearly to the 80th parallel — in order to round it 
— we were enabled to sail to the westward at 
once. During the course of the night, we came 
upon one or two wandering patches of drift ice, 
but so loosely packed, that we had no difficulty 
in pushing through them. About four o'clock in 
the morning, a long line of close ice was reported 
right ahead, stretching south — as far as the eye 
could reach. We had come about eighty miles 
since leaving Spitzbergen. The usual boundary 
of the Greenland ice in summer, runs — according 
to Scoresby — along the second parallel of west 
longitude. This we had already crossed ; so that 
it was to be presumed the barricade we saw 
before us was a frontier of the fixed ice. In 
accordance, therefore, with my predetermined 
plan, we now began working to the southward, 
and the result fully justified my expectations. 



308 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



The sea became comparatively clear, as far 
as could be seen from the deck of the vessel ; 
although small vagrant patches of ice that we 
came up with occasionally — as well as the tem- 
perature of the air and the sea — continued to 
indicate the proximity of larger bodies on either 
side of us. 

It was a curious sensation with which we had 
gradually learnt to contemplate this inseparable 
companion ; it had become a part of our daily 
existence — an element — a thing without which 
the general aspect of the universe would be irreg- 
ular and incomplete. It was the first thing we 
thought of in the morning, the last thing we spoke 
of at night. It glittered and grinned maliciously 
at us in the sunshine ; it winked mysteriously 
through the stifling fog ; it stretched itself like a 
prostrate giant — with huge portentous shoulders, 
and shadowy limbs — right across our course ; or 
danced gleefully in broken groups, in the little 
schooner's wake. There was no getting rid of it, 
or forgetting it ; and if — at night — we sometimes 
returned in dreams to the green, summer world — 
to the fervent harvest fields of England, and heard 
" the murmurs of innumerous bees," or the song 
of larks on thymy uplands — thump ! bump ! 
splash ! gra-a-ate ! — came the sudden reminder 
of our friend on the starboard bow ; and then 



A TRAGEDY. 309 

sometimes a scurry on deck, and a general 
" scrimmage " of the whole society, in endea- 
vours to prevent more serious collisions. More- 
over, I could not say, with your old French friend, 
that " Familiar'ty breeds despise." The more we 
saw of it, the less we liked it ; its cold presence 
sent a chilly sense of discouragement to the heart, 
and I had daily to struggle with an ardent desire 
to throw a boot at Wilson's head, every time his 
sepulchral voice announced the " Ice all round ! " 

It was not until the 14th of August, five days 
after quitting Spitzbergen, that we lost sight of it 
altogether. From that moment the temperature 
of the sea steadily rose, and we felt that we were 
sailing back again into the pleasant summer. 

A sad event which occurred soon after, in some 
measure marred our enjoyment of the change. 
Ever since she had left Hammerfest, it had be- 
come too evident that a sea-going life did not 
agree with the goat. Even the run on shore at 
Spitzbergen had not sufficed to repair her shat- 
tered constitution, and the bad weather we had 
had ever since — completed its ruin. It was cer- 
tain that the butcher was the only doctor who 
could now cure her. In spite, therefore, of the 
distress it occasioned Maid Marian, I was com- 
pelled to issue orders for her execution. Sigurdr 
was the only person who regarded the tragical 

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310 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

event with indifference, nay — almost with delight. 
Ever since we had commenced sailing in a south- 
erly direction, we had been obliged to beat ; but 
during the last four-and-twenty hours the wind 
kept dodging us every time we tacked, as a ner- 
vous pedestrian sets to you sometimes on a nar- 
row trottoir. This spell of ill-luck the Icelander 
heathenishly thought would only be removed by 
a sacrifice to Rhin, the goddess of the sea, in 
which light he trusted she would look upon the 
goat's body when it came to be thrown over- 
board. 

Whether the change which followed upon the 
consignment of her remains to the deep, really 
resulted from such an influence, I am not pre- 
pared to say. The weather immediately there- 
after certainly did change. First the wind 
dropped altogether ; but though the calm lasted 
several hours, the sea strangely enough appeared 
to become all the rougher, tossing and tumbling 
restlessly up and down — (not over and over as in 
a gale) — like a sick man on a fever bed ; the im- 
pulse to the waves seeming to proceed from all 
four quarters of the world at once. Then — like 
jurymen with a verdict of death upon their lips — 
the heavy, ominous clouds slowly passed into the 
Northwest. 

A dead stillness followed — a breathless pause 



RUNNING BEFORE THE WIND. 311 

— until — at some mysterious signal, the solemn 
voice of the storm hurtled over the deep. Luck- 
ily we were quite ready for it ; the gale came 
from the right quarter, and the fiercer it blew the 
better. For the next three days and three nights 
it was a scurry over the sea such as I never had 
before ; nine or ten knots an hour was the very 
least we ever went, and 240 miles was the aver- 
age distance we made every four-and-twenty 
hours. 

Any thing grander and more exciting than the 
sight of the sea under these circumstances — you 
cannot imagine. The vessel herself remains very 
steady ; when you are below you scarcely know 
you are not in port. But on raising your head 
above the companion, the first sight which meets 
your eye is an upright wall of black water, tower- 
ing — you hardly know how many feet — into the 
air over the stern. Like a lion walking on its 
hind legs, it comes straight at you, roaring and 
shaking its white mane with fury — it overtakes 
the vessel — the upright shiny face curves inwards 
— the white mane seems to hang above your very 
head ; but ere it topples over, the nimble little 
ship has already slipped from underneath. You 
hear the disappointed jaws of the sea-monster 
snap angrily together, — the schooner disdainfully 
kicks up her heel — and raging and bubbling up 



312 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

on either side the quarter, the unpausing wave 
sweeps on, and you see its round back far ahead, 
gradually swelling upwards, as it gathers strength 
and volume for a new effort. 

We had now got considerably to the south- 
ward of North Cape. We had already seen sev- 
eral ships, and you would hardly imagine with 
what childish delight my people hailed these 
symptoms of having again reached more " Chris- 
tian latitudes," as they called them. 

I had always intended, ever since my conver- 
sation with Mr. T. about the Malstrom, to have 
called in at Loffoden Islands on our way south, 
and ascertain for myself the real truth about this 
famous vortex. To have blotted such a bugbear 
out of the map of Europe, if its existence really 
was a myth, would at all events have rendered 
our cruise not altogether fruitless. But, since 
leaving Spitzbergen we had never once seen the 
sun, and to attempt to make so dangerous a 
coast in a gale of wind and a thick mist, with 
no more certain knowledge of the ship's position 
than our dead reckoning afforded, was out of the 
question ; so about one o'clock in the morning, 
the weather giving no signs of improvement, the 
course I had shaped ill the direction of the island 
was altered, and we stood away again to the 
southward. This manoeuvre was not unobserved 



THE MALSTROM. 313 

by Wilson, but he mistook its meaning. Having, 
I suppose, overheard us talking at dinner about 
the Malstrom, he now concluded the supreme 
hour had arrived. He did not exactly compre- 
hend the terms we used, but had gathered that 
the spot was one fraught with danger. Conclud- 
ing from the change made in the vessel's course 
that we were proceeding towards the dreadful 
locality, he gave himself up to despair, and lay 
tossing in his hammock in sleepless anxiety. At 
last the load of his forebodings was greater than 
he could bear ; he gets up, steals into the Doctor's 
cabin, wakes him up, and standing over him, — as 
the messenger of ill tidings once stood over Priam 
— whispers, " Sir ! " " What is it ? " says Fitz, 
thinking perhaps some one was ill. " Do you know 
where we are going ? " " Why, to Throndhjem," 
answered Fitz. " We were going to Throndh- 
jem," rejoins Wilson, t but we ain't now — the 
vessel's course was altered two hours ago. . Oh, 
Sir ! we are going to Whirlpool — to Whirl-rl-l- 
pooo-l ! Sir ! " in a quaver of consternation, — and 
so glides back to bed like a phantom, leaving the 
Doctor utterly unable to divine the occasion of 
his visit. 

The whole of the next day the gale continued. 
We had now sailed back into night ; it became 
therefore a question how far it would be advisa- 



314 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

ble to carry on during the ensuing hours of dark- 
ness, considering how uncertain we were as to 
our real position. As I think I have already- 
described to you, the west coast of Norway is 
very dangerous; a continuous sheet of sunken 
rocks lies out along its entire edge for eight or 
ten miles to sea. There are no light-houses to 
warn the mariner off; and if we were wrong in 
our reckoning as we might very well be, it was 
possible we might stumble on the land sooner 
than we expected. I knew the proper course 
would be to lie to quietly until we could take 
an observation ; but time was so valuable, and I 
was so fearful you would be getting anxious! 
The night was pretty clear. High mountains, 
such as we were expecting to make, would be 
seen, even at night, several miles off. According 
to our log we were still 150 miles off the land, 
and however inaccurate our calculation might be, 
the error could not be of such magnitude as that 
amounted to. To throw away so fair a wind 
seemed such a pity, especially as it might be 
days before the sun appeared ; we had already 
been at sea about a fortnight without a sight of 
him, and his appearance at all during the sum- 
mer is not an act de rigueur in this part of the 
world ; we might spend yet another fortnight in 
lying to, and then after all have to poke our way 



ROOST. 315 

blindfold to the coast ; at all events it would be 
soon enough to lie to the next night. Such were 
the considerations, which — after an anxious con- 
sultation with Mr. Wyse in the cabin, and much 
fingering of the charts, — determined me to carry- 
on during the night. 

Nevertheless, I confess I was very uneasy. 
Though I went to bed and fell asleep — for at 
sea nothing prevents that process — my slumbers 
were constantly agitated by the most vivid 
dreams that I ever remember to have had. 
Dreams of an arrival in England, and your 
coming down to meet us, and all the pleasure I 
had in recounting our adventures to you ; then 
suddenly your face seemed to fade away beneath 
a veil of angry gray surge that broke over low 
sharp-pointed rocks ; and the next moment there 
resounded over the ship that cry which has been 
the preface to so many a disaster — the ring of 
which, none who have ever heard it are likely to 
forget — " Breakers ahead ! " 

In a moment I was on deck, dressed — for it 
is always best to dress, — and there sure enough, 
right ahead, about a mile and a half off, through 
the mist — which had come on very thick — I 
could distinguish the upward shooting fluff of 
seas shattering against rocks. No land was to 
be seen, but the line of breakers every instant 



316 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

became more evident; at the pace we were 
going, in seven or eight minutes we should be 
upon them. Now, thought I to myself, we shall 
see whether a stout heart beats beneath the silk 
tartan ! The result covered that brilliant garment 
with glory and salt water. To tack was impos- 
sible, we could only wear, — and to wear in such 
a sea was no very pleasant operation. But the 
little ship seemed to know what she was about, 
as well as any of us ; up went the helm, round 
came the schooner into the trough of the sea, — 
high over her quarter toppled an enormous sea — 
built up of I know not how many tons of water 
— and hung over the deck ; — by some unaccount- 
able wriggle — an instant ere it thundered down 
— she had twisted her stern on one side, and the 
wave passed underneath. In another minute her 
head was to the sea, the mainsail was eased over, 
and all danger was past. 

What was now to be done? That the land 
we had seen was the coast of Norway — I could 
not believe. Wrong as our dead reckoning evi- 
dently was, it could not be so wrong as that. 
Yet only one other supposition was possible, viz : 
that we had not come so far south as we im- 
agined,- and that we had stumbled upon Roost 
— a little rocky island that lies about twenty 
miles to the southward of the Loffoden Islands. 



TAKING A SIGHT. 317 

Whether this conjecture was correct or not, did 
not much matter ; to go straight away to sea, 
and lie to until we could get an observation, was 
the only thing to be done. Away then we went, 
struggling against a tremendous sea for a good 
nine hours, until we judged ourselves to be 
seventy or eighty miles from where we had 
sighted the breakers,; — when we lay to, not in 
the best of tempers. The next morning, not 
only was it blowing as hard as ever, but all 
chance of getting a sight that day seemed also 
out of the question. I could have eaten my 
head with impatience. However, as it is best 
never to throw a chance away, about half-past 
eleven o'clock, though. the sky resembled an even 
sheet of lead, I got my sextant ready, and told 
Mr. Wyse to do the same. 

Now, out of tenderness for your feminine ig- 
norance, I must state, that in order to take an 
observation, it is necessary to get a sight of the 
sun at a particular moment of the day : this 
moment is noon. When, therefore, twelve o'clock 
came, and one could not so much as guess in 
what quarter of the heavens he might be lying 
perdu, you may suppose I almost despaired. 
Ten minutes past. It was evident w6 were 
doomed to remain, kicking our heels for another 
four-and-twenty hours where we were. No ! — 



318 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

yes ! — no ! By Phoebus ! there he *is ! A faint 
spongy spot of brightness gleamed through the 
gray roof over head. The indistinct outline 
grew a little clearer ; one half of him — though 
still behind a cloud — hardened into a sharp 
edge. Up went the sextant. " 52.43 ! " (or what- 
ever it was) I shouted to Mr. Wyse. "52.41, 
my Lord!" cried he, in return; there was only 
the discrepancy of a mile between us. We had 
got the altitude ; the sun might go to bed for 
good and all now, we did not care, — we knew 
our position to an inch. There had been an 
error of something like forty miles in our dead 
reckoning, in consequence — as I afterwards found 
— of a current that sets to the northward, along 
the west coast of Norway, with a velocity vary- 
ing from one to three miles an hour. The island 
upon which we had so nearly run was Roost. 
We were still nearly 200 miles from our port. 
"Turn the hands up! Make sail!" and away 
we went again on the same course as before, at 
the rate of ten knots an hour. 

" The girls at home have got hold of the tow- 
rope, I think, my Lord," said Mr. Wyse, as we 
bounded along over the thundering seas. 

By three o'clock next day we were up with 
Vigten ; and now a very nasty piece of navi- 
gation began. In order to make the northern 



FROH HAVET. 319 

entrance of the Throndhjem Fiord, you have 
first to find your way into what is called the 
Froh Havet, — a kind of oblong basin about six- 
teen miles long, formed by a ledge of low rocks 
running parallel with the mainland, at a dis- 
tance of ten miles to seaward. Though the 
space between this outer boundary and the coast 
is so wide, in consequence of the network of 
sunken rocks which stuffs it up, the passage by 
which a vessel can enter is very narrow, and 
the only landmark to enable you to find the 
channel is the head one of the string of outer 
islets. As this rock is about the size of a dining- 
table, perfectly flat, and rising only a few feet 
above the level of the sea, to attempt to make 
it, is like looking for a needle in a bottle of 
hay. It was already beginning to grow very 
late and dark, by the time we had come up with 
the spot where it ought to have been, — but not 
a vestige of such a thing had turned up. Should 
we not sight it in a quarter of an hour, we must 
go to sea again, and lie to for the night, — a very 
unpleasant alternative for any one so impatient 
as I was to reach a port. Just as I was going 
to give the order, Fitz — who was certainly the 
Lynceus of the ship's company — espied its black 
back just peeping up above the tumbling water 
on our starboard bow. "We had hit it off to a 
yard ! 



320 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

In another half hour we were stealing down 
in quiet water towards the entrance of the fiord. 
All this time not a rag of a pilot had appeared ; 
and it was without any such functionary that the 
schooner swept up next morning between the 
wooded, grain-laden slopes of the beautiful loch, 
to Throndhjem — the capital of the ancient sea- 
kings of Norway. 






LETTER XII. 

THRONDHJEM — HARALD HAARFAGER — KING HACON'S LAST 

BATTLE — OLAF TRYGGVESSON — THE " LONG SERPENT " 

ST. OLAVE — THORMOD THE SCALD — THE JARL OF LADE 
— THE CATHEDRAL — HARALD HARDRADA — THE BATTLE 
OF STANFORD BRIDGE — A NORSE BALL — ODIN AND HIS 
PALADINS. 

Off Munkholm, Aug, 27, 1856. 

Throndhjem (pronounced Tronyem) looked 
very pretty and picturesque, with its red-roofed 
wooden houses sparkling in the sunshine, its 
many windows filled with flowers, its bright fiord 
covered with vessels gaily dressed in flags, in 
honour of the Crown Prince's first visit to the 
ancient capital of the Norwegian realm. Tall 
pretentious warehouses crowded down to the 
water's edge, like bullies at a public show elbow- 
ing to the foremost rank ; orderly streets stretched 
in quiet rows at right angles with each other, and 
pretty villas with green cinctures sloped away 
towards the hills. In the midst rose the king's 
palace, the largest wooden edifice in Europe ; 
while the old gray cathedral — stately and grand, 



322 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

in spite of the slow destruction of the elements, 
the mutilations of man's hands, or his yet more 
degrading rough-cast and stucco reparations — 
still towered above the perishable wooden build- 
ings at its feet, with the solemn pride which befits 
the shrine of a royal saint. 

I cannot tell you with what eagerness I drank 
in all the features of this lovely scene — at least, 
such features as Time can hardly alter — the 
glancing river, from whence the city's ancient 
name of Nidaros, or " mouth of the Nid," is de- 
rived, — the rocky island of Munkholm, the bluff of 
Lad£, — the land-locked fiord and its pleasant hills 
— beyond whose gray stony ridges I knew must 
lie the fatal battle-field of Sticklestadt. Every 
spot to me was full of interest, — but an interest 
noways connected with the neat green villas, the 
rectangular streets, and the obtrusive warehouses. 
These signs of a modern humdrum prosperity 
seemed to melt away before my eyes as I gazed 
from the schooner's deck, and the accessories of 
an elder time came to furnish the landscape ; — 
the clumsy merchantmen lazily swaying with the 
tide, darkened into armed galleys with their rows 
of glittering shields,— the snug, bourgeois-looking 
town shrank into the quaint proportions of the 
huddled ancient Nidaros, — and the old maraud- 
ing days, with their shadowy line of grand old 



HARALD HAARFAGER. 323 

pirate kings, rose up with welcome vividness 
before my mind. 

What picture shall I try to conjure from the 
past, to live in your fancy as it does in mine ? 

Let the setting be these very hills, — flooded by 
this same cold, steely sunshine. In the midst 
stands a stalwart form, in quaint but regal attire. 
Hot blood deepens the colour of his sun-bronzed 
cheek ; an iron purpose gleams in his earnest 
eyes, like the flash of a drawn sword ; a circlet of 
gold binds the massive brow, and from beneath 
it stream to below his waist thick masses of hair, 
of that dusky red which glows like the heart of a 
furnace in the sunlight, but deepens earth-brown 
in the shadow. By his side stands a fair woman ; 
her demure and heavy-lidded eyes are seldom 
lifted from the earth, which yet they seem to 
scorn ; but the king's eyes rest on her, and many 
looks are turned towards him. A multitude is 
present, moved by one great event, swayed by a 
thousand passions ; — some with garrulous throats 
full of base adulation and an unworthy joy; — 
some — pale, self-scorning, with averted looks, 
and hands that twitch instinctively at their idle 
daggers, then drop hopeless — harmless at their 
sides. 

The king is Harald Haarfager, "of the fair 
hair;" the woman is proud and beautiful Gyda, 



324 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

whose former scorn for him, in the days when he 
was nothing but the petty chief of a few barren 
mountains, provoked that strange wild vow of 
his, " That he would never clip or comb his locks 
till he could woo her as sole king of Norway." 

Among the crowd are those who have bar- 
tered, for ease, and wealth, and empty titles 
born of the king's breath — their ancient Udal 
rights, their Bonder privileges ; others have sunk 
their proud hearts to bear the yoke of the 
stronger hand, yet gaze with yearning looks on 
the misty horizon that opens between the hills. 
A dark speck mars that shadowy line. Thought 
follows across the space. It is a ship. Its sides 
are long, and black, and low ; but high in front 
rises the prow, fashioned into the semblance of 
a gigantic golden dragon, against whose gleam- 
ing breast the divided waters angrily flash and 
gurgle. Along the top sides of the deck are 
hung a row of shining shields, in alternate 
breadths of red and white, like the variegated 
scales of a sea-monster, while its gilded tail 
curls aft over the head of the steersman. From 
either flank projects a bank of some thirty oars, 
that look, as they smite the ocean with even 
beat, like the legs on which the reptile crawls 
over its surface. One stately mast of pine serves 



HARALD HAARFAGER. 325 

to carry a square sail made of cloth, brilliant 
with stripes of red, white, and blue. 

And who are they who navigate this strange 
barbaric vessel ? — why leave they the sheltering 
fiords of their beloved Norway ? They are the 
noblest hearts of that noble land — freemen, who 
value freedom, — who have abandoned all rather 
than call Harald master, — and now seek a new 
home even among the desolate crags of Iceland, 
rather than submit to the tyranny of a usurper. 

" Itfortr— otter <SuTi ! toetm nut trie Seelen glujen ! " 

Another picture, and a sadder story, — but the 
scene is now a wide dun moor, on the slope of a 
seaward hill ; the autumn evening is closing in, 
but a shadow darker than that of evening broods 
over the desolate plain, — the shadow of Death. 
Groups of armed men, with stern sorrow in their 
looks, are standing round a rude couch, hastily 
formed of fir branches. An old man lies there — 
dying. His ear is dulled even to the shout of 
victory ; the mists of an endless night are gather- 
ing on his eyes ; but there is passion yet in the 
quivering lip — and triumph on the high-resolved 
brow; and the gesture of his hand has kingly 
power still. Let me tell his saga, like the bards 
of that old time. 

15 



326 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



KING HACON'S LAST BATTLE. 



All was over : day was ending 

As the foeman turned and fled. 

Gloomy red 

Glowed the angry sun descending ; 

While round Hacon's dying bed, 

Tears and songs of triumph blending, 

Told how fast the conqueror bled. 

ii. 

" Raise me," said the King. We raised him- 

Not to ease his desperate pain ; 

That were vain ! 

" Strong our foe was — but we faced him : 

Show me that red field again," 

Then, with reverend hands, we placed him 

High above the bloody plain. 

in. 

Silent gazed he ; mute we waited, 

Kneeling round — a faithful few, 

Staunch and true, — 

Whilst above, with thunder freighted, 

Wild the boisterous North wind blew, 

And the carrion-bird, unsated, 

On slant wing around us flew. 



KING HACON. 327 



Sudden, on our startled hearing, 

Came the low-breathed, stern command- 

" Lo ! ye stand ? 

Linger not, the night is nearing ; 

Bear me downwards to the strand, 

Where my ships are idly steering 

Off and on, in sight of land." 



Every whispered word obeying, 
Swift we bore him down the steep, 
O'er the deep, 

Up the tall ship's side, low swaying 
To the storm-wind's powerful sweep, 
And — his dead companions laying 
Round him, — we had time to weep. 

VI. 

But the King said — " Peace ! bring hither 

Spoil and weapons — battle-strown, 

Make no moan ; 

Leave me and my dead together, 

Light my torch, and then — begone." 

But we murmured, each to other, 

" Can we leave him thus alone ? " 

VII. 

Angrily the King replieth ; 
Flash the awful eyes again, 
With disdain — 



328 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" Call him not alone who lieth 
Low amidst such noble slain ; 
Call him not alone who dieth 
Side by side with gallant men." 



Slowly, sadly, we departed : 
Reached again that desolate shore, 
Nevermore 

Trod by him, the brave true-hearted- 
Dying in that dark ship's core ! 
Sadder keel from land ne'er parted, 
Nobler freight none ever bore ! 

IX. 

There we lingered, seaward gazing, 
Watching o'er that living tomb, 
Through the gloom — 
Gloom ! which awful light is chasing- 
Blood-red flames the surge illume ! 
Lo ! King Hacon's ship is blazing ; 
'Tis the hero's self-sought doom. 



Right before the wild wind driving, 
Madly plunging — stung by fire — 
No help nigh her — 
Lo ! the ship has ceased her striving ! 
Mount the red flames higher — higher ! 
Till — on ocean's verge arriving, 
Sudden sinks the Viking's pyre — 
Hacon's gone ! 



THE OLD-WORLD HEROES. 329 

Let me call one more heroic phantom from 
Norway's romantic past. 

A kingly presence — stately and tall ; his shield 
held high above his head — a broken sword in his 
right hand. Olaf Tryggvesson ! Founder of Ni- 
daros; — that cold Northern Sea has rolled for 
many centuries above your noble head, and yet 
not chilled the battle heat upon your brow, nor 
stanched the blood that trickles down your iron 
glove, from hidden, untold wounds, which the 
tender hand of Thyri shall never heal ! 

To such ardent souls it is indeed given " to 
live for ever," (the for ever of this world ;) for is 
it not " Life " to keep a hold on our affections, 
when their own passions are at rest, — to influ- 
ence our actions (however indirectly) — when 
action is at an end for them ? Who shall say 
how much of modern heroism may owe its 
laurels to that first throb of fiery sympathy 
which young hearts feel at the relation of 
deeds such as Olaf Tryggvesson's ? 

The forms of those old Greeks and Romans 
whom we are taught to reverence, may project 
taller shadows on the world's stage ; but though 
the scene be narrow here, and light be wanting, 
the interest is not less intense, nor are the pas- 
sions less awful that inspired these ruder dramas. 

There is an individuality in the Icelandic his- 



330 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

torian's description of King Olaf that wins one's 
interest — at first as in an acquaintance, — and 
rivets it at last as in a personal friend. The old 
Chronicle lingers with such loving minuteness 
over his attaching qualities, — his social, generous 
nature, — his gayety and " frolicsomeness ; " even 
his finical taste in dress, and his evident prone- 
ness to fall too hastily in love, have a value in the 
portrait, as contrasting with the gloomy colours 
in which the story sinks at last. The warm, im- 
pulsive spirit speaks in every action of his life, 
from the hour when — a young child, in exile — he 
strikes his axe into the skull of his foster-father's 
murderer — to the last grand scene near Svalderoe. 
You trace it in his absorbing grief for the death 
of Geyra, the wife of his youth ; the saga says, 
" he had no pleasure in Vinland after it," and 
then naively observes, "he therefore provided 
himself with war-ships, and went a-plundering," 
one of his first achievements being to go and 
pull down London bridge. This peculiar kind 
of " distraction " (as the French call it) seems to 
have had the desired effect, as is evident in the 
romantic incident of his second marriage, when 
the Irish Princess Gyda chooses him — apparently 
an obscure stranger — to be her husband, out of a 
hundred wealthy and well-born aspirants to her 
hand. But neither Gyda's love, nor the rude 



OLAF TRYGGVESSON. 381 

splendours of her father's court, can make Olaf 
forgetful of his claims upon the throne of Nor- 
way — the inheritance of his father ; and when 
that object of his just ambition is attained, and 
he is proclaimed King by general election of the 
Bonders, as his ancestor Harold Haarfager had 
been, — his character deepens in earnestness as 
the sphere of his duties is enlarged. All the 
enemies of his ardent nature are put forth in the 
endeavour to convert his subjects to the true 
Faith* As he himself expresses it, " he would 
bring it to this, — that all Norway should be 
Christian — or die ! " In the same spirit he meets 
his heretic and rebellious subjects at the Thing of 
Lade, and boldly replies, when they require him 
to sacrifice to the false gods, " If I turn with you 
to offer sacrifice, — then shall it be the greatest 
sacrifice that can be made ; I will not offer slaves, 
nor malefactors to your gods, — I will sacrifice 
men; — and they shall be the noblest men among 
you ! " It was soon after this that he despatched 
the exemplary Thangbrand to Iceland. 

With a front not less determined does he face 
his country's foes. The king of Sweden, and 
Svend " of the forked beard," king of Denmark, 
have combined against him. With them is 
joined the Norse jarl, Eric, the son of Hacon. 
Olaf Tryggvesson is sailing homewards with a 



332 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

fleet of seventy ships, — himself commanding the 
famous Long Serpent, the largest ship built in 
Norway. His enemies are lying in wait for him 
behind the islands. 

Nothing can be more dramatic than the de- 
scription of the sailing of this gallant fleet — 
(piloted by the treacherous Earl Sigwald) — with- 
in sight of the ambushed Danes and Swedes, 
who watch from their hiding-place the beautiful 
procession of hostile vessels, mistaking each in 
turn for The Long Serpent, and as often unde- 
ceived by a new and yet more stately apparition. 
She appears at length, — her dragon prow glitter- 
ing in the sunshine, — all canvas spread — her sides 
bristling with armed men ; " and when they saw 
her, none spoke, — all knew it to be indeed The 
Serpent, — and they went to their ships to arm 
for the fight." As soon as Olaf and his forces 
have been enticed into the narrow passage, the 
united fleets of the three allies pour out of the 
Sound ; his people beg Olaf to hold on his way 
and not risk battle with such a superior force, — 
but the King replied, high on the quarter-deck 
where he stood, " Strike the sails ! I never fled 
from battle ; let God dispose of my life, but 
flight I will never take!" He then orders the 
war-horns to sound, for all his ships to close up 
to each other. " Then," says Ulf the Red, Cap- 



ULF THE RED. 333 

tain of the forecastle, " if The Long Serpent is 
to lie so much ahead of the other vessels, we 
shall have hot work of it here on the forecastle." 

The King replies, " I did not think I had a 
forecastle man afraid, as well as redP * 

Says Ulf, " Defend thou the quarter-deck, as I 
shall the forecastle." 

The King had a bow in his hands ; he laid an 
arrow on the string, and made as if he aimed 
at Ulf. 

Ulf said, " Shoot another way, King, where it 
is more needful, — my work is thy gain." 

Then the King asks, " Who is the chief of the 
force right opposite to us ? " He is answered, 
" Svend of Denmark, with his army." 

Olaf replies, " We are not afraid of these soft 
Danes ! Who are the troops on the right ? " 

They answer, " Olaf of Sweden, and his 
forces." 

" Better it were," replies the King, " for these 
Swedes to be sitting at home, killing their sacri- 
fices, than venturing under the weapons of The 
Long Serpent. But who owns the large ships 
on the larboard side of the Danes ? " 

" That is Jarl Eric, son of Hacon," say they. 

The King says, " He has reason for meeting 

* There is a play on these two words in the Icelandic, 
" Raudan oc Ragan." 

15* 



334 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

us; we may expect hard blows from these men ; 
they are Norsemen like ourselves." 

The fierce conflict raged for many hours. It 
went hard with the " soft Danes," and idolatrous 
Swedes, as Olaf had foreseen ; after a short 
struggle they turn and fly. But Jarl Eric in his 
large ship, The Iron Beard, is more than a match 
for Olaf's lighter vessels. One by one their 
decks are deluged with blood, their brave de- 
fenders swept into the sea ; one by one they are 
cut adrift, and sent loose with the tide. And 
now at last The Iron Beard lies side by side 
with The Long Serpent, and it is indeed " hot 
work " both on forecastle and quarter-deck. 

" Einar Tambarskelvar, one of the sharpest of 
bowmen, stood by the mast, and shot with his 
bow." His arrow hits the tiller-end, just over the 
Earl's head, and buries itself up to the shaft in 
the wood. " Who shot that bolt ? " says the 
Jarl. Another flies between his hand and side, 
and enters the stuffing of the chief's stool. 
Then, said the Jarl to a man named Fin, " Shoot 
that tall archer by the mast ! " Fin shoots ; the 
arrow hits the middle of Einar 5 s bow as he is in 
the act of drawing it, and the bow is split in 
two. 

" What is that," cried King Olaf, " that broke 
with such a noise ? " 



EINAR THE ARCHER. 335 

" Norway, King, from thy hands ! " cried Einar. 

"No! not so much as that," says the King; 
" take my bow and shoot," — flinging the bow to 
him. 

Einar took the bow, and drew it over the head 
of the arrow. " Too weak, too weak," said he, 
" for the bow of a mighty King ! " and throwing 
the bow aside, " he took sword and buckler, and 
fought valiantly." 

But Olaf's hour is come. Many slain lie 
around him ; many that have fallen by his hand, 
more that have fallen at his side. The thinned 
ranks on board The Iron Beard are constantly 
replenished by fresh combatants from other ves- 
sels, even by the Swedes and soft Danes, now 
" strong, upon the stronger side," — while Olaf, 
cut off from succour, stands almost alone upon 
The Serpent's deck, made slippery by his peo- 
ple's blood. The Jarl had laid out boats to inter- 
cept all who might escape from the ship ; but 
escape is not in the King's thoughts. He casts 
one look around him, glances at his sword — 
broken like Einar's bow, — draws a deep breath, 
and, holding his shield above his head, springs 
overboard. A shout — a rush ! who shall first 
grasp that noble prisoner ? Back, slaves ! the 
shield that has brought him scathless through a 
hundred fights, shall yet shelter him from dis- 
honour. 



336 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Countless hands are stretched to snatch him 
back to worthless life, but the shield alone floats 
on the swirl of the wave; — King Olaf has sunk 
beneath it. 

Perhaps you have already had enough of my 
Saga lore, — but with that gray cathedral full in 
sight, I cannot but dedicate a few lines to an- 
other Olaf, king and warrior like the last, but to 
whom after-times have accorded a yet higher 
title. 

Saint Olaf 's — Saint Olave, as we call him — 
early history savours little of the odour of sanc- 
tity, but has rather that " ancient and fish-like 
smell" which characterized the doings of the 
Vikings, his ancestors. But those were days 
when honour rather than disgrace attached to the 
ideas of booty and plunder, especially in an ene- 
my's country ; it was a " spoiling of the Egyp- 
tians" sanctioned by custom, and even permitted 
by the Church, which did not disdain occasion- 
ally to share in the profits of a successful cruise, 
when presented in the decent form of silver can- 
dlesticks and other ecclesiastical gauds. As to 
the ancient historian, he mentions these matters 
as a thing of course. " Here the King landed, 
burnt and ravaged ; " " there the Jarl gained 
much booty;" "this summer, they took a cruise 
in the Baltic, to gather property," &c. much as 



OLAF THE SAINT. 337 

a modern biographer might speak of a gentle- 
man's successful railroad speculations, his taking 
shares in a coal mine, or coming into a "nice 
little thing in the Long Annuities." Neverthe- 
less, there is something significant of his future 
vocation, in a speech which Olaf makes to his 
assembled friends and relations, imparting to 
them his design of endeavouring to regain pos- 
session of the throne : " I and my men have 
nothing for our support save what we captured 
in war, for which we have hazarded both life and 
soul; for many an innocent man have we de- 
prived of his property, and some of their lives ; 
and foreigners are now sitting in the possessions 
of my fathers." One sees here a faint glimmer 
of the Saint's nimbus, over the helmet of the 
Viking, a dawning perception of the "rights of 
property," which, no doubt, must have startled 
his hearers into the most ardent conservative zeal 
for the good old marauding customs. 

But though years elapsed, and fortunes changed, 
before this dim light of the early Church became 
that scorching and devouring flame which, later, 
spread terror and confusion among the haunts of 
the still lingering ancient gods, an earnest sense 
of duty seems to have been ever present with 
him. If it cannot be denied that he shared the 
errors of other proselytizing monarchs, and put 



338 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

down Paganism with a stern and bloody hand, 
no merely personal injury ever weighed with him. 
How grand is his reply to those who advise him 
to ravage with fire and sword the rebellious dis- 
trict of Throndhjem, as he had formerly punished 
numbers of his subjects who had rejected Chris- 
tianity : " We had then God's honour to defend ; 
but this treason against their sovereign is a much 
less grievous crime ; it is more in my power to 
spare those who have dealt ill with me, than 
those whom God hated." The same hard meas- 
ure which he meted to others he applied to his 
own actions: witness that curiously characteris- 
tic scene, when, sitting in his high seat, at table, 
lost in thought, he begins unconsciously to cut 
splinters from a piece of fir-wood which he held 
in his hand. The table servant, seeing what the 
King was about, says to him (mark the respect- 
ful periphrasis !) " It is Monday , Sire, to-morrow" 
The King looks at him, and it came into his 
mind what he was doing on a Sunday. He 
sweeps up the shavings he had made, sets fire to 
them, and lets them burn on his naked hand ; 
"showing thereby that he would hold fast by 
God's law, and not trespass without punish- 
ment." 

But whatever human weaknesses may have 
mingled with the pure ore of this noble character, 



DEATH OF OLAF. 339 

whatever barbarities may have stained his career, 
they are forgotten in the pathetic close of his 
martial story. 

His subjects, — alienated by the sternness with 
which he administers his own severely religious 
laws, — or corrupted by the bribes of Canute, King 
of Denmark and England, — are fallen from their 
allegiance. The brave, single-hearted Monarch is 
marching against the rebellious Bonders, at the 
head of a handful of foreign troops, and such as 
remained faithful among his own people. On the 
eve of that last battle, on which he stakes throne 
and life, he intrusts a large sum of money to a 
Bonder, to be laid out " on churches, priests, and 
alms-men, as gifts for the souls of such as may 
fall in battle against himself" — strong in the con- 
viction of the righteousness of his cause, and the 
assured salvation of such as upheld it. 

He makes a glorious end. Forsaken by many 
whom he had loved and served, — yet forgiving 
and excusing them ; rejecting the aid of all who 
denied that holy Faith which had become the 
absorbing interest of his life, — but surrounded by 
a faithful few, who shared his fate ; " in the lost 
battle, borne down by the flying" — he falls, trans- 
pierced by many wounds, and the last words on 
his fervent lips are prayer to God.* 

* The exact date of the battle of Sticklestad is known ; an 
eclipse of the sun occurred while it was going on. 



340 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Surely there was a gallant saint and soldier. 
Yet he was not the only one who bore himself 
nobly on that day. Here is another episode of 
that same fatal fight. 

A certain Thormod is one of the Scalds, (or 
Poets,) in King Olaf s army. The night before 
the battle, he sings a spirited song at the King's 
request, who gives him a gold ring from his finger 
in token of his approval. Thormod thanks him 
for the gift, and says : " It is my prayer, Sire, 
that we shall never part, either in life or death." 
When the King receives his death wound, Thor- 
mod is near him, — but, wounded himself, and so 
weak and weary, that in a desperate onslaught 
by the King's men, — nicknamed " Dag's storm" 
— he only stood by his comrade in the ranks, 
although he could do nothing. 

The noise of the battle has ceased ; the King 
is lying dead where he fell. The very man who 
had dealt him his death wound has laid the body 
straight out on the ground, and spread a cloak 
over it. " And when he wiped the blood from the 
face, it was very beautiful, and there was red in 
the cheeks, as if he only slept." 

Thormod, who bad received a second wound as 
he stood in the ranks — (an arrow in his side, 
which he breaks off' at the shaft,) — wanders away 
towards a large barn, where other wounded men 
have taken refuge. Entering with his drawn 



THORMOD AFTER THE BATTLE. 341 

sword in his hand, he meets one of the Bonders 
coming out, who says : " It is very bad there, 
with howling and screaming ; and a great shame 
it is, that brisk young fellows cannot bear 
their wounds. The King's men may have done 
bravely to-day, — but truly they bear their wounds 
ill." 

Thormod asks what his name is, — and if he 
was in the battle. Kimbe was his name, and he 
had been "with the Bonders, which was the best 
side." " And hast thou been in the battle, too ? " 
asks he of Thormod. 

Thormod replies : " I was with them that had 
the best." 

" Art thou wounded ? " says Kimbe. 

" Not much to signify," says Thormod. 

Kimbe sees the gold ring, and says: "Thou 
art a King's man ; give me thy gold ring, and I 
will hide thee." 

Thormod replies : " Take the ring if thou 
canst get it ; I have lost that which is more 
worth." 

Kimbe stretches out his hand to seize the ring ; 
but Thormod, swinging his sword, cuts off his 
hand ; " and it is related, that Kimbe behaved no 
better under his wound than those he had just 
been blaming." 



342 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Thormod then enters the house where the 
wounded men are lying, and seats himself in 
silence by the door. 

As the people go in and out, one of them casts 
a look at Thormod, and says, " Why art thou so 
dead pale ? Art thou wounded ? " He answers 
carelessly, with a half-jesting rhyme ; then rises 
and stands awhile by the fire. A woman, who 
is attending on those who are hurt, bids him " go 
out, and bring in firewood from the door." He 
returns with the wood, and the girl then looking 
him in the face, says, " dreadfully pale is this 
man ; " and asks to see his wounds. She exam- 
ines the wound in his side, and feels that the iron 
of the arrow is still there ; she then takes a pair 
of tongs and tries to pull it out, " but it sat too 
fast, and as the wound was swelled, little of it 
stood out to lay hold of." Thormod bids her " cut 
deep enough to reach the iron, and- then to give 
him the tongs, and let him pull." She did as 
he bade. He takes the ring from his hand, and 
gives it to the girl, saying, " It is a good man's 
gift ! King Olaf gave it to me this morning." 
Then Thormod took the tongs and pulled the 
iron out. The arrow-head was barbed, and on it 
there hung some morsels of flesh. When he saw 
that he said, " The King has fed us well ! I am 



"NEWS FROM HOME." 343 

fat — even at the heart-roots!" And so saying, 
he leant back, and died.* 

Stout, faithful heart ! if they gave you no place 
in your master's stately tomb, there is room for 
you by his side in heaven ! 

I have at last received — I need not say how 
joyfully— two letters from you ; one addressed to 
Hammerfest. I had begun to think that some 
Norwegian warlock had bewitched the post-bags, 
in the approved old ballad fashion, to prevent 
their rendering up my dues ; for when the packet 
of letters addressed to The Foam was brought 
on board, immediately after our arrival, I alone 
got nothing. From Sigurdr and the Doctor to 
the cabin-boy, every face was beaming over 
" news from home ! " while I was left to walk 
the deck, with my hands in my pockets, pre- 
tending not to care. But the spell is broken 
now, and I retract my evil thoughts of the war- 
lock and you. 

Yesterday, we made an excursion as far as 
Lade, saw a waterfall, which is one of the lions 
of this neighbourhood, (but a very mitigated lion, 
which " roars you as soft as any sucking dove,") 

* When a man was wounded in the abdomen it was the 
habit of the Norse leeches to give him an onion to eat ; by 
this means they learnt whether the weapon had perforated 
the viscera. 



344 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

and returned in the evening to attend a ball given 
to celebrate the visit of the Crown Prince. 

At Lade, I confess I could think of nothing 
but " the great Jarl," Hacon, the counsellor, and 
maker of kings, king himself in all but the name, 
for he ruled over the western sea-board of Nor- 
way, while Olaf Tryggvesson was yet a wanderer 
and exile. He is certainly one of the most pic- 
turesque figures of these Norwegian dramas ; — 
what with his rude wit, his personal bravery, and 
that hereditary beauty of his race, for which he 
was conspicuous above the rest. His very errors, 
great as they were, have a dash and prestige 
about them, which in that rude time must have 
dazzled men's eyes, and especially women's^ as 
his story proves. It was his sudden passion for 
the beautiful Gudrun Lyrgia (the " Sun of 
Lunde," as she was called), which precipitated 
the avenging fate which years of heart-burnings 
and discontent among his subjects had been pre- 
paring. Gudrun's husband incites the Bonders 
to throw off the yoke of the licentious despot, — 
Olaf Tryggvesson is proclaimed king,— and the 
" great Jarl of Lade " is now a fugitive in the 
land he so lately ruled, accompanied by a single 
thrall, named Karker. 

In this extremity, Jarl Hacon applies for aid 
to Thora of Rimmol, a lady whom he had once 



THE SWINE-STYE. 345 

dearly loved ; she is faithful in adversity to the 
friend of happier days, and conceals the Jarl and 
his companion in a hole dug for this purpose, in 
the swine-stye, and covered over with wood and 
litter ; as the only spot likely to elude the hot 
search of his enemies. Olaf and the Bonders 
seek for him in Thora's house, but in vain ; and 
finally, Olaf, standing on the very stone against 
which the swine-stye is built, promises wealth 
and honours to him who shall bring him the Jarl 
of Lade's head. The scene which follows is re- 
lated by the Icelandic historian with Dante's 
tragic power. 

There was a little daylight in their hiding- 
place, and the Jarl and Karker both hear the 
words of Olaf. 

" Why art thou so pale ? " says the Jarl, " and 
now again as black as earth ? Thou dost not 
mean to betray me ? 

" By no means," said Karker. 

" We were born on the same night," said the 
Jarl, " and the time will not be long between our 
deaths." 

When night came, the Jarl kept himself awake, 
— but Karker slept ; — a troubled sleep. The Jarl 
awoke him, and asked of what he was dreaming. 
He answered, " I was at Lad£, and Olaf was lay- 
ing a gold ring about my neck." 



346 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

The Jarl said, " It will be a red ring about thy 
neck, if he catches thee ; from me thou shalt 
enjoy all that is good, — therefore, betray me 
' not ! " 

They then both kept themselves awake ; " the 
one, as it were, watching upon the other" But 
towards the day, the Jarl dropped asleep, and in 
his unquiet slumber he drew his heels under him, 
and raised his neck as if going to rise, " and 
shrieked fearfully." On this, Karker, " dreadfully 
alarmed," drew a knife from his belt, stuck it into 
the JarPs throat, and cut off his head. Late in 
the day he came to Lad£, brought the JarPs head 
to Olaf, and told his story. 

It is a comfort to know that u the red ring" 
was laid round the traitor's neck ; Olaf caused 
him to be beheaded. 

What a picture that is, in the swine-stye, those 
two haggard faces, travel-stained and worn with 
want of rest, watching each other with hot, 
sleepless eyes, through the half darkness, and 
how true to nature is the nightmare of the mis- 
erable Jarl ! 

It was on my return from Lad£, that I found 
your letters ; and that I might enjoy them with- 
out interruption, I carried them off to the church- 
yard — (such a beautiful place !) — to read in peace 
and quiet. The churchyard was not " populous 



THE CATHEDRAL. 347 

with young men, striving to be alone," as Tom 
Hood describes it to have been in a certain senti- 
mental parish ; so I enjoyed the seclusion I an- 
ticipated. 

I was much struck by the loving care and 
ornament bestowed on the graves; some were 
literally loaded with flowers, and even those 
which bore the date of a long past sorrow had 
each its own blooming crown, or fresh nosegay. 
These good Throndhjemers must have much of 
what the French call la religion des souvenirs, a 
religion in which we English (as a nation) are 
singularly deficient. I suppose no people in 
Europe are so little addicted to the keeping of 
sentimental anniversaries as we are ; I make 
an exception with regard to our living friends' 
birthdays, — which we are ever tenderly ready to 
cultivate, when called on ; turtle, venison, and 
champagne being pleasant investments for the 
affections. But time and business do not admit 
of a faithful adherence to more sombre reminis- 
cences ; a busy gentleman "on 'Change," cannot 
conveniently shut himself up, on his " lost Ara- 
minta's natal-day," nor will a railroad com- 
mittee allow of his running down by the 10.25 
a.m., to shed a tear over that neat tablet in the 
new Willowcum-Hatband Cemetery. He is 
necessarily content to regret his Araminta in the 



348 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

gross, and to omit the pretty details of a too 
pedantic sorrow. 

The fact is, we are an eminently practical 
people, and are easily taught to accept " the ir- 
revocable," if not without regret, at least with a 
philosophy which repudiates all superfluous meth- 
ods of showing it. Decent is the usual and 
appropriate term applied to our churchyard so- 
lemnities, and we are not only " content to dwell 
in decencies for ever," but to die, and be buried 
in them. 

The cathedral loses a little of its poetical phy- 
siognomy on a near approach. Modern restora- 
tion has done something to spoil the outside, 
and modern refinement a good deal to degrade 
the interior, with pews and partitions ; but it is 
a very fine building, and worthy of its metropoli- 
tan dignity. I am told, that the very church 
built by Magnus the Good, — son of Saint Olave, 
— over his father's remains, and finished by his 
uncle Harold Hardrada, is, or rather was, included 
in the walls of the cathedral, and though succes- 
sive catastrophes by fire have perhaps left but 
little of the original building standing, I like to 
think that some of these huge stones were lifted 
to their place under the eyes of Harald the Stern. 
It was on the eve of his last fatal expedition 
against our own Harold of England, that the 



HARALD HARDRADA. 349 

shrine of St. Olave was opened by the king, 
who, having clipped the hair and nails of the 
dead saint (most probably as relics, efficacious 
for the protection of himself and followers), then 
locked the shrine, and threw the keys into the 
Nid. Its secrets from that day were respected, 
until the profane hands of Lutheran Danes car- 
ried it bodily away, with all the gold and silver 
chalices, and jewelled pyxes, which, by kingly 
gifts and piratical offerings, had accumulated for 
centuries in its treasury. 

He must have been a fine, resolute fellow, that 
Harald the Stern, although — in spite of much 
church-building and a certain amount of Pagan- 
persecuting — his character did not in any way 
emulate that of his saintly brother. The early 
part of his history reads like a fairy tale, and is a 
favourite subject for Scald songs; more especi- 
ally his romantic adventures in the East, — 

" Well worthy of the golden prime 
Of good Haroun Alraschid; " 

where Saracens flee like chaff upon the wind 
before him, and impregnable Sicilian castles fall 
into his power by impossible feats of arms, or 
incredible stratagems. A Greek empress, M the 
mature Zoe," as Gibbon calls her 5 falls in love 
with him, and her husband, Constantine Mono- 
16 



350 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

machus, puts him into prison ; but Saint Olaf 
still protects his mauvais sujet of a brother, and 
inspires " a lady of distinction " with the success- 
ful idea of helping Harald out of his inaccessible 
tower by the prosaic expedient of a ladder of 
ropes. A boom, however, across the harbour's 
mouth still prevents the escape of his vessel. 
The Sea-king is not to be so easily baffled. 
Moving all his ballast, arms, and men, into the 
after-part of the ship, until her stem slants up out 
of the sea, he rows straight at the iron chain. 
The ship leaps almost half-way over. The 
weight being then immediately transferred to the 
forepart, she slips down into the water on the 
other side, — having topped the fence like an Irish 
hunter. A second galley breaks her back in the 
attempt. After some questionable acts of ven- 
geance on the Greek court, Harald and his bold 
Vaeringers go fighting and plundering their way 
through the Bosphorus and Black Sea back to 
Novogorod, where the first part of the romance 
terminates, as it should, by his marriage with 
the object of his secret attachment, Elisof, the 
daughter of the Russian king. 

Hardrada's story darkens towards the end, as 
most of the tales of that stirring time are apt to 
do. His death on English ground is so striking, 
that you must have patience with one other short 



THE BATTLE OF STANFORD BRIDGE. 351 

Saga ; it will give you the battle of Stanford 
Bridge from the Norse point of view. 

The expedition against Harold of England 
commences ill ; dreams and omens affright the 
fleet ; one man dreams he sees a raven sitting on 
the stern of each vessel; another sees the fair 
English coast ; 

"But glancing shields 
Hide the green fields; " 

and other fearful phenomena mar the beautiful 
vision. Harald himself dreams that he is back 
again at Nidaros, and that his brother Olaf meets 
him with a prophecy of ruin and death. The 
bold Norsemen are not to be daunted by these 
auguries, and their first successes on the English 
coast seem to justify their persistence. But on 
a certain beautiful Monday in September (a.d. 
1066, according to the Saxon Chronicle), part of 
his army being encamped at Stanford Bridge, 
" Hardrada, having taken breakfast, ordered the 
trumpets to sound for going on shore;" but he 
left half his force behind, to guard the ships ; 
and his men, anticipating no resistance from the 
castle, which had already surrendered, " went on 
shore (the weather being hot), with only their 
helmets, shields, and spears, and girt with swords ; 
some had bows and arrows, — and all were very 



352 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

merry." On nearing the castle, they see " a 
cloud of dust as from horses' feet, and under it 
shining shields and bright armour." English 
Harold's army is before them. Hardrada sends 
back to his ship for succour, and sets up his ban- 
ner, " Land Ravager," undismayed by the ine- 
quality of his force, and their comparatively 
unarmed condition. The men on each side are 
drawn up in battle array, and the two kings in 
presence, each gazes eagerly to discover his noble 
foe among the multitude. Harald Hardrada's 
black horse stumbles and falls; "the King got 
up in haste, and said, c A fall is lucky for a trav- 
eller.' " 

The English King said to the Northmen who 
were with him, " Do you know the stout man 
who fell from his horse, with the blue kirtle, and 
beautiful helmet ? " 

" That is the Norwegian King," said they. 

English Harold replied, " A great man, and of 
stately appearance is he ; but I think his luck has 
left him." 

And now twenty gallant English knights ride 
out of their ranks to parley with the Northmen. 
One advances beyond the rest and asks if Earl 
Toste, the brother of English Harold (who has 
banded with his enemy against him), is with the 
army. 



THE TWO HAKALDS. 353 

The Earl himself proudly answers, " It is not 
to be denied that you will find him here." 

The Saxon says, " Thy brother, Harold, sends 
this salutation, and offers thee the third part of 
his kingdom, if thou wilt be reconciled and sub- 
mit to him." 

The Earl replies, at the suggestion of the Norse 
King, " What will my brother the King give to 
Harald Hardrada for his trouble ?" 

" He will give him," says the Knight, " seven 
feet of English ground, or as much more as he 
may be taller than other men" 

" Then," says the Earl, « let the English King, 
my brother, make ready for battle, for it never 
shall be said that Earl Toste broke faith with his 
friends when they came with him to fight west 
here in England." 

When the knights rode off, King Harald Har- 
drada asked the Earl, " Who was the man who 
spoke so well ? " 

The Earl replied, " That knight was Harold of 
England." 

The stern Norwegian King regrets that his 
enemy had escaped from his hands, owing to his 
ignorance of this fact ; but even in his first burst 
of disappointment, the noble Norse nature speaks 
in generous admiration of his foe, saying to the 
people about him, " That was but a little man, 
yet he sat firmly in his stirrups." 



354 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

The fierce, but unequal combat is soon at an 
end, and when tardy succour arrives from the 
ships, Harald Hardrada is lying on his face, with 
the deadly arrow in his throat, never to see 
Nidaros again. Seven feet of English earth, and 
no more, has the strong arm and fiery spirit con- 
quered. 

But enough of these gallant fellows ; I must 
carry you off to a much pleasanter scene of ac- 
tion. After a very agreeable dinner with Mr. 
K , who has been most kind to us, we ad- 
journed to the ball. The room was large and 
well lighted — plenty of pretty faces adorned it — 
the floor was smooth, and the scrape of the fiddles 
had a festive accent so extremely inspiriting, that 

I besought Mr. K to present me to one of 

the fair personages whose tiny feet were already 
tapping the floor with impatience at their own 
inactivity. 

I was led up in due form to a very pretty lady, 
and heard my own name, followed by a singular 
sound purporting to be that of my charming 
partner, Madame Hghelghghagllaghem. For the 
pronunciation of this polysyllabic cognomen, I 
can only give you a few plain instructions : com- 
mence it with a slight cough, continue with a 
gurgling in the throat, and finish with the first 
convulsive movement of a sneeze, imparting to 
the whole operation a delicate nasal twang. If 



A BALL AT THRONDHJEM. 355 

the result is not something approaching to the 
sound required, you must relinquish all hope of 
achieving it, as I did. Luckily, my business was 
to dance, and not to apostrophize the lady ; and 
accordingly, when the waltz struck up, I hastened 
to claim, in the dumbest show, the honour of her 
hand. Although my dancing qualifications have 
rather rusted during the last two or three years, I 
remembered that the time was not so very far 

distant when even the fair Mad elle - E had 

graciously pronounced me to be a very tolerable 
waltzer, "for an Englishman," and I led my 
partner to the circle already formed with the 
" air capable " which the object of such praise is 
entitled to assume. There was a certain languid 
rhythm in the air they were playing which rather 
offended my ears, but I suspected nothing until, 
observing the few couples who had already de- 
scended into the arena, I became aware that they 
were twirling about with all the antiquated grace 
of " la valse a trots tenips" Of course my part- 
ner would be no exception to the general rule ! 
nobody had ever danced any thing else at Thrond- 
hjem from the days of Odin downwards ; and I 
had never so much as attempted it. What was 
to be done ? I could not explain the state of 
the case to Madame Hghelghghagllaghem ; she 
could not understand English, nor I speak Norse. 



356 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

My brain reeled with anxiety to find some solu- 
tion of the difficulty, or some excuse for rushing 
from her presence. What if I were taken with 
a sudden bleeding at the nose, or had an apo- 
plectic fit on the spot ? Either case would neces- 
sitate my being carried decently out, and con- 
signed to oblivion, which would have been a 
comfort under the circumstances. There was 
nothing for it but the courage of despair; so, 
casting reflection to the winds, and my arm 
round her waist, I suddenly whisked her off her 
legs, and dashed madly down the room, " a deux 
tempsP At the first perception that something 
unusual was going on, she gave such an eldritch 
scream, that the whole society suddenly came to 
a stand-still. I thought it best to assume an 
aspect of innocent composure and conscious rec- 
titude ; which had its effect, for though the lady 
began with a certain degree of hysterical anima- 
tion to describe her wrongs, she finished with a 
hearty laugh, in which the company cordially 
joined, and I delicately chimed in. For the rest 
of the dance she seemed to resign herself to her 
fate, and floated through space, under my guid- 
ance, with all the abandon of Francesca di 
Rimini, in Scheffer's famous picture. 

The Crown Prince is a tall, fine-looking person ; 
he was very gracious, and asked many questions 
about my voyage. 



UP ANCHOR. 357 

At night there was a general illumination, to 
which The Foam contributed some blue lights. 

We got under weigh early this morning, and 
without a pilot — as we had entered — made our 
way out to sea again. I left Throndhjem with 
regret, not for its own sake, for in spite of balls 
and illuminations I should think the pleasures of 
a stay there would not be deliriously exciting; 
but this whole district is so intimately associated 
in my mind with all the brilliant episodes of an- 
cient Norwegian History, that I feel as if I were 
taking leave of all those noble Haralds, and Olafs, 
and Hacons, among whom I have been living in 
such pleasant intimacy for some time past. 

While we are dropping down the coast, I 
may as well employ the time in giving you a 
rapid sketch of the commencement of this fine 
Norse people, though the story " remonte jusqvCd 
la nuit des temps" and has something of the 
vague magnificence of your own M'Donnell 
genealogy, ending a long list of great potentates, 
with " somebody, who was the son of somebody 
else, who was the son of Scotha, who was the 
daughter of Pharaoh ! " 

In bygone ages, beyond the Scythian plains 
and the fens of the Tanai's, in that land of the 
morning, to which neither Grecian letters nor 
Roman arms had ever penetrated, there was a 

16* 



358 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

great city called Asgaard. Of its founder, of its 
history, we know nothing ; but looming through 
the mists of antiquity we can discern an heroic 
figure, whose superior attainments won for him 
the lordship of his own generation, and divine 
honours from those that succeeded. Whether 
moved by an irresistible impulse, or expelled by 
more powerful neighbours, it is impossible to 
say; but certain it is that at some period, not 
perhaps very long before the Christian era, under 
the guidance of this personage, a sun-nurtured 
people moved across the face of Europe, in a 
northwesterly direction, and after leaving settle- 
ments along the southern shores of the Baltic, 
finally established themselves in the forests and 
valleys of what has come to be called the Scan- 
dinavian Peninsula. That children of the south 
should have sought out so inclement a habitation 
may excite surprise ; but it must always be re- 
membered that they were, probably, a compara- 
tively scanty congregation, and that the unoccu- 
pied valleys of Norway and Sweden, teeming 
with fish and game, and rich in iron, were a pref- 
erable region to lands only to be colonized after 
they had been conquered. 

Thus, under the leadership of Odin — and his 
twelve Paladins, to whom a grateful posterity 
afterwards conceded thrones in the halls of their 



EARLY NORSE HISTORY. 359 

chief'3 Valhalla, — the new emigrants spread 
themselves along the margin of the out-ocean, 
and round about the gloomy fiords, and up and 
down the deep valleys, that fall away at right 
angles from the backbone, or keel, as the sea- 
faring population soon learnt to call the flat 
snow-capped ridge that runs down the centre of 
Norway. 

Amid the rude but not un genial influences of 
its bracing climate, was gradually fostered that 
gallant race which was destined to give an im- 
perial dynasty to Russia, a nobility to England, 
and conquerors to every sea-board in Europe. 

Upon the occupation of their new home, the 
ascendency of that mysterious hero, under whose 
auspices the settlement was conducted, appears 
to have remained more firmly established than 
ever, not only over the mass of the people, but 
also over the twelve subordinate chiefs who ac- 
companied him ; there never seems to have been 
the slightest attempt to question his authority, 
and — though afterwards themselves elevated into 
an order of celestial beings, every tradition which 
has descended is careful to maintain his human 
and Divine supremacy. Through the obscurity, 
the exaggeration, and the ridiculous fables, with 
which his real existence has been overloaded, we 
can still see that this man evidently possessed a 



360 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

genius as superior to his contemporaries, as has 
ever given to any child of man the ascendency 
over his generation. In the simple language of 
the old chronicler we are told, " that his counte- 
nance was so beautiful, that, when sitting among 
his friends, the spirits of all were exhilarated by 
it ; that when he spoke, all were persuaded ; that 
when he went forth to meet his enemies, none 
could withstand him." Though subsequently 
made a god by the superstitious people he had 
benefited, his death seems to have been noble and 
religious. He summoned his friends around his 
pillow, intimated a belief in the immortality of 
his soul, and his hope that hereafter they should 
meet again in Paradise. " Then," we are told, 
" began the belief in Odin, and their calling upon 
him." 

On the settlement of the country, the land was 
divided and subdivided into lots — some as small 
as fifty acres — and each proprietor held his share 
— as their descendants do to this day — by udal 
right ; that is, not as a fief of the Crown, or of 
any superior lord, but in absolute, inalienable 
possession, by the same udal right as the kings 
wore their crowns, to be transmitted, under the 
same title, to their descendants unto all genera- 
tions. 

These landed proprietors were called the Bond- 



ASSEMBLY, OR THING. 361 

ers, and formed the chief strength of the realm. 
It was they — their friends, and servants, or thralls 
— who constituted the army. Without their con- 
sent the king could do nothing. On stated occa- 
sions they met together, in a solemn assembly, or 
Thing, (i. e. Parliament,) as it was called, for the 
transaction of public business, the administration 
of justice, the allotment of the scatt, or taxes. 

Without a solemn induction at the Ore or Great 
Thing, even the most legitimately-descended sov- 
ereign could not mount the throne, and to that 
august assembly an appeal might ever lie against 
his authority. 

To these Things, and to the Norse invasion 
that implanted them, and not to the Wittenage- 
motts of the Latinized Saxons, must be referred 
the existence of those Parliaments which are the 
boast of Englishmen. 

Noiselessly and gradually did a belief in liberty, 
and an unconquerable love of independence, grow 
up among that simple people. No feudal despots 
oppressed the unprotected, for all were noble and 
udal born ; no standing armies enabled the Crown 
to set popular opinion at defiance, for the swords 
of the Bonders sufficed to guard the realm; no 
military barons usurped an illegitimate authority, 
for the nature of the soil forbade the erection of 
feudal fortresses. Over the rest of Europe des- 



362 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

potism rose up rank under the tutelage of a cor- 
rupt religion; while, year after year, amid the 
savage scenery of its Scandinavian nursery, that 
great race was maturing whose genial heartiness 
was destined to invigorate the sickly civilization 
of the Saxon with inexhaustible energy, and pre- 
serve to the world, even in the nineteenth century, 
one glorious example of a free European people. 



LETTER XIII. 

COPENHAGEN — BERGEN — THE BLACK DEATH — SIGURDR — 
HOMEWARDS. 

Copenhagen, Sept. 12, 1856. 

Our adventures since the date of my last letter 
have not been of an exciting character. We had 
fine weather and prosperous winds down the 
coast, and stayed a day at Christiansund, and 
another at Bergen. But though the novelty of 
the cruise had ceased since our arrival in lower 
latitudes, there was always a certain raciness and 
oddity in the incidents of our coasting voyage ; 
such as — waking in the morning, and finding the 
schooner brought up under the lea of a wooden 
house, or — riding out a foul wind with your haw- 
ser rove through an iron ring in the sheer side of 
a mountain, — which took from the comparative 
flatness of daily life on board. 

Perhaps the queerest incident was a visit paid 
us at Christiansund. As I was walking the deck 
I saw a boat coming off, with a gentleman on 
board ; she was soon alongside the schooner, and 
as I was gazing down on this individual, and 



364 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

wondering what he wanted, I saw him suddenly 
lift his feet lightly over the gunwale and plunge 
them into the water, boots and all. After cooling 
his heels in this way for a minute or so, he laid 
hold of the side ropes and gracefully swung him- 
self on deck. Upon this, Sigurdr, who always 
acted interpreter on such occasions, advanced to- 
wards him, and a colloquy followed, which ter- 
minated rather abruptly in Sigurdr walking aft, 
and the web-footed stranger ducking down into 
his boat again. It was not till some hours later 
that the indignant Sigurdr explained the meaning 
of the visit. Although not a naval character, this 
gentleman certainly came into the category of 
men " who do business in great waters," his bus- 
iness being to negotiate a loan ; in short, to ask 
me to lend him £100. There must have been 
something very innocent and confiding in " the 
cut of our jib n to encourage his boarding us on 
such an errand ; or perhaps it was the old ma- 
rauding, toll-taking spirit coming out strong in 
him ; the politer influences of the nineteenth 
century toning down the ancient Viking into a 
sort of cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy 
Diddler. The seas which his ancestors once 
swept with their galleys, he now sweeps with his 
telescope, and with as keen an eye to the main 
chance as any of his predecessors displayed. The 



BERGEN THE WALRUS. 365 

feet-washing ceremony was evidently a propitia- 
tory homage to the purity of my quarter-deck. 

Bergen, with its pale-faced houses grouped on 
the brink of the fiord, like invalids at a German 
spa, though picturesque in its way, with a cathe- 
dral of its own, and plenty of churches, looked 
rather tame and spiritless after the warmer col- 
ouring of Throndhjem ; moreover, it wanted nov- 
elty to me, as I called in there two years ago on 
my return from the Baltic. It was on that occa- 
sion that I became possessed of my ever-to-be- 
lamented infant Walrus. 

No one, personally unacquainted with that 
" most delicate monster," can have any idea of 
his attaching qualities. I own that his figure 
was not strictly symmetrical, that he had a roll 
in his gait, suggestive of heavy seas, that he 
would not have looked well in your boudoir ; but 
he never seemed out of place on my quarter- 
deck, and every man on board loved him as a 
brother. With what a languid grace he would 
wallow and roll in the water, when we chucked 
him overboard ; and paddle and splash, and make 
himself thoroughly cool and comfortable, and 
then come and " beg to be taken up " like a fat 
baby, and allow the rope to be slipped round his 
extensive waist, and come up — sleek and drip- 
ping — among us again with a contented grunt, 



366 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

as much as to say, " Well, after all, there's no 
place like home ! " How he would compose him- 
self to placid slumber in every possible incon- 
venient place, with his head on the binnacle 
(especially when careful steering was a matter 
of moment), or across the companion entrance, 
or the cabin skylight, or on the shaggy back of 
" Sailor," the Newfoundland, who positively ab- 
horred him. And how touching it was to see 
him waddle up and down the deck after Mr. 
Wyse, whom he evidently regarded in a maternal 
point of view — begging for milk with the most 
expressive snorts and grunts, and embarrassing 
my good-natured master by demonstrative ap- 
peals to his fostering offices. 

I shall never forget Mr. Wyse's countenance 
that day in Ullapool Bay, when he tried to com- 
mand his feelings sufficiently to acquaint me 
with the creature's death, which he announced 
in this graphic sentence, " Ah, my Lord! — the 
poor thing! — toes up at last!" 

Bergen is not as neat and orderly in its archi- 
tectural arrangements as Drontheim ; a great 
part of the city is a confused network of narrow 
streets and alleys, much resembling, I should 
think, its early inconveniences, in the days of 
Olaf Kyrre. This close and stifling system of 
street building must have ensured fatal odds 



THE BLACK DEATH. 367 

against the chances of life in some of those 
world-devastating plagues that characterized past 
ages. Bergen was, in fact, nearly depopulated 
by that terrible pestilence which, in 1349, ravaged 
the North of Europe, and whose memory is still 
preserved under the name of " The Black Death." 
I have been tempted to enclose you a sort 
of ballad, which was composed while looking 
on the very scene of this disastrous event; its 
only merit consists in its local inspiration, and in 
its conveying a true relation of the manner in 
which the plague entered the doomed city. 

THE BLACK DEATH OF BERGEN. 



What can ail the Bergen Burghers 

That they leave their stoups of wine ? 
Flinging up the hill like jagers, 

At the hour they're wont to dine ! 
See, the shifting groups are fringing 

Bock and ridge with gay attire, 
Bright as Northern streamers tinging 

Peak and crag with fitful fire ! 

ii. 

Towards the cliff their steps are bending, 
Westward turns their eager gaze, 

Whence a stately ship ascending, 
Slowly cleaves the golden haze. 



368 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

Landward floats the apparition — 
" Is it, can it be the same ? " 

Frantic cries of recognition 

Shout a long-lost vessel's name ! 



in. 

Years ago had she departed — 

Castled poop and gilded stern ; 
Weeping women, broken-hearted, 

Long had waited her return. 
When the midnight sun wheeled downwards, 

But to kiss the ocean's verge — 
When the noonday sun, a moment, 

Peeped above the Wintry surge. 



IV. 

Childless mothers, orphan'd daughters, 

From the seaward-facing crag, 
Yainly searched the vacant waters 

For that unreturning flag ! 
But, suspense and tears are ended, 

Lo ! it floats upon the breeze ! 
Ne'er from eager hearts ascended 

Thankful prayers as warm as these. 



See the good ship proudly rounding 
That last point that blocks the view ; 

" Strange ! no answering cheer resounding 
From the long home-parted crew ! " 



THE BLACK DEATH. 369 

Past the harbour's stony gateway, 

Onwards borne by sucking tides, 
Tho' the light wind faileth — straightway 

Into port she safely glides. 



VI. 

Swift, as by good angels carried, 
Right and left the news has spread. 

Wives long widowed — yet scarce married- 
Brides that never hoped to wed, 

From a hundred pathways meeting 
Crowd along the narrow quay, 

Maddened by the hope of meeting 
Those long counted cast away. 



VII. 

Soon a crowd of small boats flutter 

O'er the intervening space, 
Bearing hearts too full to utter — 

Thoughts that flush the eager face ! 
See young Eric foremost gaining — 

(For a father's love athirst !) 
Every nerve and muscle straining, 

But to touch the dear hand Jirst. 

VIII. 

In the ship's green shadow rocking 

Lies his little boat at last : 
Wherefore is the warm heart knocking 

o 

At his side, so loud and fast V 



370 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

" What strange aspect is she wearing, 
Vessel once so taut and trim ? 

Shout ! — my heart has lost its daring, 
Comrades, search \-r-my eyes are dim." 



IX. 

Sad the search, and fearful finding ! 

On the deck lay parched and dry 
Men — who in some burning blinding 

Clime — had lain them down to die ! 
Hands — prayer-clenched— that would not sever, 

Eyes that stared against the sun, 
Sights that haunt the soul for ever, 

Poisoning life — till life is done ! 



Strength, from fear, doth Eric gather, 

Wide the cabin door he threw — 
Lo ! the face of his dead father, 

Stern and still, confronts his view ! 
Stately as in life he bore him, 

Seated — motionless and grand ; 
On the blotted page before him 

Lingers still the livid hand ! 



XI. 

What sad entry was he making, 
When the death-stroke fell at last ? 

11 Is it then God's will, in taking 
All, that I am left the last ? 



THE BLACK DEATH. 371 

I have closed the cabin doorway, 

That I may not see them die : — 
Would our bones might rest in Norway, — 

'Neath our own cool Northern sky ! " 



XII. 

Then the ghastly log-book told them 

How — in some accursed clime, 
Where the breathless land-swell rolled them, 

For an endless age of time — 
Sudden broke the plague among them, 

'Neath that sullen Tropic sun ; 
As if fiery scorpions stung them — 

Died they raving, one by one ! 



XIII. 

— Told the vain and painful striving, 

By shot-weighted shrouds to hide 
(Last fond care,) from those surviving, 

What good comrade last had died ; 
Yet the ghastly things kept showing, 

Waist deep in the unquiet grave — 
To each other gravely bowing 

On the slow swing of the wave ! 



XIV. 

Eric's boat is near the landing — 

From that dark ship bring they aught ? 

In the stern sheets one is standing, 
Though their eyes perceive him not ; 



372 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

But a curdling horror creepeth 
Thro* their veins, with icy darts, 

And each hurried oar-stroke keepeth 
Time with their o'er-labouring hearts ! 



Heavy seems their boat returning, 

Weighted with a world of care ! 
Oh, ye blind ones — none discerning 

What the spectral freight ye bear. 
Glad they hear the sea-beach grating 

Harsh beneath the small boat's stem — 
Forth they leap, for no man waiting — 

But the Black Death lands with them. 



XVI. 

Viewless — soundless — stalks the spectre 

Thro' the city chill and pale, 
Which like bride, this morn, had deck'd her 

For the advent of that sail. 
Oft by Bergen women, mourning, 

Shall the dismal tale be told, 
Of that lost ship home returning, 

With " The Black Death " in her hold ! 

I would gladly dwell on the pleasures of my 
second visit to Christiansund, which has a charm 
of its own, independent of its interest as the 
spot from whence we really " start for home." 
But though strange lands, and unknown or indif- 






CHRISTIANSUND. 373 

ferent people, are legitimate subjects for travel- 
lers' tales, our friends and their pleasant homes 
are net; so I shall keep all I have to say of 
gratitude to our excellent and hospitable Consul, 
Mr. Morch, and of admiration for his charming 
wife, until I can tell you vivd voce how much I 
wish that you also knew them. 

And now, though fairly off from Norway, and 
on our homeward way, it was a tedious business 
— what with fogs, calms, and head winds- — work- 
ing towards Copenhagen. We rounded the 
Scaw in a thick mist, saw the remains of four 
ships that had run aground upon it, and were 
nearly run into ourselves by a clumsy merchant- 
man, whom we had the relief of being able to 
abuse in our native vernacular, and the most racy 
sea-slang. 

Those five last days were certainly the only 
tedious period of the whole cruise. I suppose 
there is something magnetic in the soil of one's 
own country, which may account for that impa- 
tient desire to see it again, which always grows, 
as the distance from it diminishes; if so, London 
clay — and its superstratum of foul, greasy, gas- 
discoloured mud — began about this time to exer- 
cise a tender influence upon me, which has been 
increasing every hour since; it is just possible 

17 



374 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 

that the thoughts of seeing you again may have 
some share in the matter. 

Somebody (I think Fuller) says somewhere, 
that " every one with whom you converse, and 
every place wherein you tarry awhile, giveth 
somewhat to you, and taketh somewhat away, 
either for evil or for good ; " a startling considera- 
tion for circumnavigators, and such like restless 
spirits ; but a comfortable thought, in some re- 
spects, for voyagers to Polar regions, as (except 
seals and bears) few things could suffer evil from 
us there ; though for our own parts, there were 
solemn and wholesome influences enough " to 
be taken away " from those icy solitudes, if one 
were but ready and willing to " stow " them. 

To-morrow I leave Copenhagen, and my good 
Sigurdr, whose companionship has been a con- 
stant source of enjoyment, both to Fitz and 
myself, during the whole voyage ; I trust that I 
leave with him a friendly remembrance of our 
too short connection, and pleasant thoughts of 
the strange places and things we have seen to- 
gether; as I take away with me a most affec- 
tionate memory of his frank and kindly nature, 
his ready sympathy, and his imperturbable good 
humour. From the day on which I shipped him 
— an entire stranger — until this eve of our sepa- 
ration — as friends, through scenes of occasional 

"0 



SIGURDR. 375 

discomfort and circumstances which might some- 
times have tried both temper and spirits — shut 
up as we were for four months in the necessarily 
close communion of life on board a vessel of 
eighty tons, — there has never been the shadow of 
a cloud between us ; henceforth, the words " an 
Icelander " can convey no cold or ungenial asso- 
ciations to my ears, and however much my 
imagination has hitherto delighted in the past 
history of that singular island, its Present will 
always claim a deeper and warmer interest from 
me, for Sigurdr's sake. 

To-morrow Fitz and I start for Hamburgh, 
and very soon after — at least as soon as railroad 
and steamer can bring me — I look for the joy of 
seeing your face again. 

By the time this reaches Portsmouth, The 
Foam will have performed a voyage of six thou- 
sand miles. 

I have had a most happy time of it, but I fear 
my amusement will have cost you many a weary 
hour of anxiety and suspense. 



APPENDIX. 

No. I. 



Voyage of Discovery along the Banquise, north of Iceland, 
by La Reine Hortense. 

It fell to the lot of an officer of the French navy, M. 
Jules de Blosseville, to attempt to explore those distant 
parts, and to shed an interest over them, both by his dis- 
coveries and by his tragical and premature end. 

In the spring of 1833, on the breaking up of a frost, 
La Lilloise, under the command of that brave officer, 
succeeded in passing through the Banquise, nearly up to 
latitude 69°, and in surveying about thirty leagues of coast 
to the south of that latitude. After having returned to 
her anchorage off the coast of Iceland, he sailed again in 
July for a second attempt. From that time nothing has 
been heard of La Lilloise. 

The following year The Bordelaise was sent to look 
for The Lilloise, but found the whole north of Iceland 
blocked up by ice-fields ; and returned, having been 
stopped in the latitude of the North Cape. 



378 APPENDIX. 

As a voyage to the Danish colonies on the western 
coast of Greenland formed part of the scheme of our 
arctic navigation, we were aware at our departure from 
Paris, that it was our business to make ourselves well 
acquainted with the southern part of the ice-field, from 
Reykjavik to Cape Farewell. But while we were touch- 
ing at Peterhead, the principal port for the fitting out of 
vessels destined for the seal fishery, the Prince, and M. 
de la Ronciere, Commander of La Reine Hortense, 
gathered — from conversations with the fishermen just 
returned from their spring expedition, some important 
information on the actual state of the ice. They learnt 
from them that navigation was completely free this year 
round the whole of Iceland ; that the ice-field resting 
on Jan Mayen Island, and surrounding it to a distance 
of about twenty leagues, extended down the southwest 
along the coast of Greenland, but without blocking up 
the channel which separates that coast from that of Ice- 
land. These unhoped-for circumstances opened a new 
field to our explorations, by allowing us to survey all 
that part of the Banquise which extends to the north 
of Iceland, thus forming a continuation to the observa- 
tions made by The Recherche, and to those which we 
ourselves intended to make during our voyage to Green- 
land. The temptation was too great for the Prince ; and 
Commander de la Ronciere was not a man to allow an 
opportunity to escape for executing a project which 
presented itself to him with the character of daring and 
novelty. 

But the difficulties of the enterprise were serious, 



APPENDIX. 379 

and of such a nature that no one but a sailor experienced 
in navigation is capable of appreciating. The Eeine 
Hortense is a charming pleasure-boat, but she offered 
very few of the requisites for a long voyage, and she 
was destitute of all the special equipment indispensable 
for a long sojourn in the ice. There was room but for 
six days' coals, and for three weeks' water. As to the 
sails, one may say the masts of the corvette are merely 
for show, and that without steam it would be impossible 
to reckon on her making any way regularly and unin- 
terruptedly. Add to this, that she is built of iron, — that 
is to say, an iron sheet of about two centimetres thick 
constitutes all her planking, — and that her deck — divided 
into twelve great panels, is so weak that it has been 
thought incapable of carrying guns proportioned to her 
tonnage. Those who have seen the massive vessels of the 
fishermen of Peterhead, their enormous outside planking, 
their bracings and fastenings in wood and in iron, and 
their internal knees and stancheons, may form an idea 
from such precautions — imposed by long experience, of 
the nature of the dangers that the shock — or even the 
pressure of the ice — may cause to a ship in the latitudes 

that we were going to explore. 

******* 

The Oocyte had also been placed at the disposal of 
H. I. H. Prince Napoleon. This vessel, which arrived 
at Reykjavik the same day that we did, the 30th of June, 
— is a steam schooner, with paddles, standing the sea well, 
carrying coals for twelve days, but with a deplorably slow 
rate of speed. 



380 APPENDIX. 

We found besides at Reykjavik the war transport La 
Perdrix, and two English merchant steamers, The Tas- 
mania and The Saxon, freighted by the Admiralty to 
take to Iceland coals necessary for our voyage to Green- 
land. These five vessels, with the frigate Artemise, 
which performed the duties of guardship, formed the 
largest squadron which had ever assembled in the har- 
bour of the capital of Iceland. 

Unfortunately, these varied and numerous elements 
had nothing in common, and Commodore de la Ronciere 
soon saw that extraneous help would afford us no addi- 
tional security ; and in short, that The Reine Hortense 
— obliged to go fast — as her short supplies would not 
allow long voyages, had to reckon on herself alone. 
However, the [English] captain of The Saxon ex- 
pressing a great desire to visit these northern parts, and 
displaying on this subject a sort of national vanity, 
besides promising an average speed of seven knots an 
hour, it was decided that — at all events, that vessel 
should start alone with The Reine Hortense, whose 
supply of coals it would be able to replenish, in the 
event — a doubtful one, it is true — of our making the 
coast of Jan Mayen's island, and finding a good an- 
chorage. The Reine Hortense had — by the help of a 
supplementary load on deck — a supply of coals for eight 
days ; and immediately on starting, the crew, as well as 
the passengers, were to be put on a measured allowance 
of water. 

A few hours before getting under weigh, the expedi- 
tion was completed by the junction of a new companion, 



APPENDIX. 381 

quite unexpected. We found in Reykjavik harbour a 
yacht belonging to Lord Dufferin. The Prince, seeing 
his great desire to visit the neighbourhood of Jan May en, 
offered to take his schooner in tow of The Reine Hor- 
tense. It was a fortunate accident for a seeker of mari- 
time adventures ; and an hour afterwards, the proposition 
having been eagerly accepted, the Englishman was at- 
tached by two long cables to the stern of our corvette. 

On the 7th of July, 1856, at two o'clock in the morn- 
ing, after a ball given by Commander de Mas on board 
The Artemise — The Reine Hortense, with the English 
schooner in tow, left Reykjavik harbour, directing her 
course along the west coast of Iceland, towards Onundar- 
fiord, where we were to join The Saxon, which had left 
a few hours before us. At nine o'clock, the three vessels, 
steering east-north-east, doubled the point of Cape North. 
At noon our observation of the latitude placed us about 
67°. We had just crossed the Arctic circle. The tem- 
perature was that of a fine spring day, 10° centigrade, 
(50 Farenh.) 

The Reine Hortense diminished her speed. A 
rope, thrown across one of the towing-ropes, enabled 
Lord Dufferin to haul one of his boats to our corvette. 
He himself came to dine with us, and to be present at 
the ceremony of crossing the polar circle. As to The 
Saxon, M. de la Ronciere perceived by this time that 
the worthy Englishman had presumed too much on his 
power. The Saxon was evidently incapable of fol- 
lowing us. The captain, therefore, made her a signal 
17* 



382 APPENDIX. 

that she was to take her own course, to try and reach 
Jan Mayen ; and if she could not succeed, to direct her 
course on Onundarfiord, and there to wait for us. The 
English vessel fell rapidly astern, her hull disappeared, 
then her sails, and in the evening every trace of her 
smoke had faded from the horizon. 

<fc yfc vfc TlC V& 7f? 7F 

In the evening, the temperature grew gradually 
colder ; that of the water underwent a more rapid and 
significant change. At twelve at night it was only three 
degrees centig. (about 37° Fahr.) At that moment the 
vessel plunged into a bank of fog, the intensity of which 
we were enable to ascertain, from the continuance of 
daylight in these latitudes, at this time of the year. 
These are tokens that leave no room to doubt that we 
are approaching the solid ice. True enough : — at two 
o'clock in the morning the officer on watch sees close to 
the ship a herd of seals, inhabitants of the field ice. A 
few minutes later the fog clears up suddenly ; a ray of 
sunshine gilds the surface of the sea, lighting up millions 
of patches of sparkling white, extending to the farthest 
limit of the horizon. These are the detached hummocks 
which precede and announce the field ice ; they in- 
crease in size and in number as we proceed. At three 
o'clock in the afternoon we find ourselves in front of a 
large pack which blocks up the. sea before us. We are 
obliged to change our course to extricate ourselves from 
the ice that surrounds us. 

This is an evolution requiring on the part of the com- 
mander, the greatest precision of eye, and a perfect 



APPENDIX. 383 

knowledge of his ship. The Eeine Hortense, going 
half-speed, with all the officers and the crew on deck, 
glides along between the blocks of ice, some of which she 
seems almost to touch, and the smallest of which would 
sink her instantly if a collision took place. Another 
danger, which it is almost impossible to guard against, 
threatens a vessel in those trying moments. If a piece 
of ice gets under the screw, it will be inevitably smashed 
like glass, and the consequences of such an accident might 
be fatal. 

The little English schooner follows us bravely; bound- 
ing in our track, and avoiding only by a constant watch- 
fulness and incessant attention to the helm the icebergs 
that we have cleared. 

But the difficulties of this navigation are nothing in 
clear weather, as compared to what they are in a fog. 
Then, notwithstanding the slowness of the speed, it re- 
quires as much luck as skill to avoid collisions. Thus it 
happened that after having escaped the ice a first time, 
and having steered E. N. E., we found ourselves sud- 
denly, towards two o'clock of that same day (the 9th), 
not further than a quarter of a mile from the field ice 
which the fog had hidden from us. Generally speaking, 
the Banquise that we coasted along for three days, and 
that we traced with the greatest care for nearly a hun- 
dred leagues, presented to us an irregular line of margin, 
running from W. S. W. to E. N. E., and thrusting for- 
ward towards the south — capes and promontories of 
various sizes, and serrated like the teeth of a saw. 
Every time that we bore up for E. N. E., we soon found 



384 APPENDIX. 

ourselves in one of the gulfs of ice formed by the inden- 
tations of the Banquise. It was only by steering to the 
S. W. that we got free from the floating icebergs, to re- 
sume our former course as soon as the sea was clear. 

The further we advanced to the northward, the thicker 
became the fog and more intense the cold (two degrees 
centig. below zero) ; the snow whirled round in squalls 
of wind, and fell in large flakes on the deck. The ice 
began to present a new aspect, and to assume those fan- 
tastic and terrible forms and colours, which painters have 
made familiar to us. At one time it assumed the ap- 
pearance of mountain-peaks covered with snow, furrowed 
with valleys of green and blue ; more frequently they 
appeared like a wide flat plateau, as high as the ship's 
deck, against which the sea rolled with fury, hollowing 
its edges into gulfs, or breaking them into perpendicular 
cliffs or caverns, into which the sea rushed in clouds of 
foam. 

We often passed close by a herd of seals, which — 
stretched on these floating islands, followed the ship with 
a stupid and puzzled look. We were forcibly struck 
with the contrast between the fictitious world in which 
we lived on board the ship, and the terrible realities of 
nature that surrounded us. Lounging in an elegant 
saloon, at the corner of a clear and sparkling fire, amidst 
a thousand objects of the arts and luxuries of home, we 
might have believed that we had not changed our resi- 
dence, or our habits, or our enjoyments. One of 
Strauss's waltzes, or Schubert's melodies — played on 
the piano by the band-master — completed the illusion ; 



APPENDIX. 385 

and yet we had only to rub off the thin incrustation of 
frozen vapour that covered the panes of the windows, 
to look out upon the gigantic and terrible forms of the 
icebergs dashed against each other by a black and broken 
sea, and the whole panorama of Polar nature, its awful 

risks, and its sinister splendours. 

******* 

Meanwhile, we progressed but very slowly. On the 
10 th of July we were still far from the meridian of Jan 
May en, when we suddenly found ourselves surrounded 
by a fog, and at the bottom of one of the bays formed 
by the field ice. We tacked immediately, and put the 
ship about, but the wind had accumulated the ice behind 
us. At a distance the circle that enclosed us seemed 
compact and without egress. We considered this as the 
most critical moment of our expedition. Having tried 
this icy barrier at several points, we found a narrow and 
tortuous channel, into which we ventured ; and it was 
not till after an hour of anxieties that we got a view of 
the open sea, and of a passage into it. From this mo- 
ment we were able to coast along the Banquise without 
interruption. 

On the 11th of July at 6 a.m. we reached, at last, the 
meridian of Jan Mayen, at about eighteen leagues * dis- 
tance from the southern part of that island, but we saw 
the ice-field stretching out before us as far as the eye 
could reach ; hence it became evident that Jan Mayen 

* I think there must be some mistake here; when we parted com- 
pany with The Reine Hortense, we were still upwards of 100 miles 
distant from the southern extremity of Jan Mayen. 



386 APPENDIX. 

was blocked up by the ice, at least along its south coast. 
To ascertain whether it might still be accessible from 
the north, it would have been necessary to have at- 
tempted a circuit to the eastward, the possible extent 
of which could not be estimated ; moreover, we had 
consumed half our coals, and had lost all hope of being 
rejoined by The Saxon. Thus forced to give up any 
further attempts in that direction, Commodore de la 
Ronciere, having got the ship clear of the floating ice, 
took a W. S. W. course, in the direction of Reykjavik. 

The instant The Reine Hortense assumed this new 
course, a telegraphic signal — as had been previously 
arranged — acquainted Lord Dufferin with our determi- 
nation. Almost immediately, the young Lord sent on 
board us a tin box, with two letters, one for his mother, 
and one for our commander. In the latter he stated 
that — finding himself clear of the ice, and master of his 
own movements — he preferred continuing his voyage 
alone, uncertain whether he should at once push for 
Norway, or return to Scotland.* The two ropes that 
united the vessels were then cast off, a farewell hurrah 
was given, and in a moment the English schooner was 
lost in the fog. 

Our return to Reykjavik afforded no incident worth 
notice ; The Reine Hortense, keeping her course out- 
side the ice, encountered no impediment, except from the 
intense fogs, which forced her — from the impossibility of 
ascertaining her position — to lie to, and anchor off the 
cape during part of the day and night of the 13th. 

* I was purposely vague as to my plans, lest you might learn we 
still intended to go on. 



APPENDIX. 387 

On the morning of the 14th, as we were getting out 
of the Dyre Fiord where we had anchored, we met — to 
our great astonishment — The Oocyte proceeding north- 
ward. Her commander, Sonnart, informed us that on 
the evening of the 12th, The Saxon — in consequence 
of the injuries she had received, had been forced back to 
Reykjavik. She had hardly reached the ice on the 9th, 
when she came into collision with it ; five of her timbers 
had been stove in, and an enormous leak had followed. 
Becoming water-logged, she was run ashore, the first 
time at Onundarfiord, and again in Reykjavik roads, 
whither she had been brought with the greatest difficulty. 



No. II. 

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TO THE 
FIGURE-HEAD OF "THE FOAM." 



Calm sculptured image of as sweet a face 
As ever lighted up an English home, — 

Whose mute companionship has deign'd to grace 
Our wanderings o'er a thousand leagues of foam, - 



Our progress was your triumph duly hailed 
By ocean's inmates ; herald dolphins played 

Before our stem, tall ships that sunward sailed 
With stately curtseys due obeisance paid. 



Fair Fortune's fairer harbinger ! you smooth'd 
Our way before us, through the frantic fling 

Of roystering waves — as once Athene sooth'd 

The deeps that raged around the wandering King ; 

IV. 

The scowling tempest rose in vain to clutch 

His forked bolts ; you smiled, — they harmless turned 

To sheets of splendour at his palsied touch, 
And all their anger perished ere it burned. 



404 TO THE FIGURE-HEAD OF "THE FOAM." 



V. 



Now tinkling waves a peal of welcome rang 
Against the sheathing of our brazen bows,- 

No gladder hymn the rosy Nereids sang, 
When, clad in sunshine, Aphrodite rose. 



VI. 



Anon, a mightier passion stirr'd the deep — 
Presumptuous billows scaled the quivering deck ; 

Up to your very lips would dare to leap, 

And fling their silver arm3 about your neck ; 



VII. 



The uncouth winds stole kisses from your cheek, 
Then, wild with exultation, hurried on, 

And boasting bade their laggard comrades seek 
The momentary bliss themselves had won, 



VIII. 



Who, following, filled our prosperous sails until 
We reached eternal winter's drear domain, 

Where suns of June but frozen light distil, 
And, baffled, quickly abdicate their reign. 



Yet even here your gracious beauty shed 

Deep calm ; old Ocean slumbered 'neath its spell ; 

And Summer seemed to follow where you led, 
As loth to bid your kindred smile farewell. 



TO THE FIGURE-HEAD OF "THE FOAM." 405 



The ominous shapes of drifting ice, that pack 
The desolate channels of the polar flood, 

Clustered like wolves around our Northward track, 
Till swayed by that sweet power to altered mood, 



XI. 

They cowered, and ranged themselves on either side, 
Like vassal ranks who watch some passing Queen 

Through her white columned halls in silence glide, 
Nor mingling meet till she no more is seen. 



And we with confident souls still followed you, 
Where stern those serried files of icebergs rose, — 

As James of Douglas followed, — staunch and true, 
The honoured heart he flung amongst his foes ; 

XIII. 

Till in my sailors' child-like hearts there grew 

A vague, half sportive reverence for that Form, — 

Which, like commissioned angel, onward flew, 
And with a halcyon spell conjured the storm ! 

xiv. 

What marvel then, if— when our wearied hull 
In some lone haven found a brief repose, 

Rude hands, by love made delicate, would cull 
A grateful garland for your Goddess brows ? 



406 TO THE FIGURE-HEAD OF "THE FOAM." 



XV. 



What marvel if their leader, too, would lay 
His fragile wreath of evanescent rhyme, 

At her dear feet whose image cheered his way, 

And warm'd with old home thoughts the lonely time, 



XVI. 



When as he watched that sculptured life-like smile 
Through many an anxious hour of Arctic gloom, 

Its magic influence would half beguile 

The bleak and barren ocean tracts to bloom — 



With well remembered woods, and Highland hills 
That cluster round a castle's stately towers ; 

And gleaming lawns, and glens, and murmuring rills, 
Where Edith plays amid the summer flowers ! 



Boston, 135 Washington Street, 
November, 1858. 

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Loves of the Poets. " " 75 cents. 

Diary of an Ennuyee " " 75 cents. 

Sketches of Art, &c. " " 75 cents. 

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by TlCKNOR AND FlELDS. 9 

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io A Lift of Books Publifhed 
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A Journey due North. $1.00. 

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by Ticknoji and Fields. 11 
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12 A Lift of BooJ:s Publifhed 
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by TlCKNOR AND FlELDS. 13 

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by TlCKNOR AND FlELDS. 15 

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16 A Lift of Books Publifhed. 
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Jack Halliard's Voyages. 38 cents. 

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